Take Your Time
by Dare to be Something More
Summary: Augustine, 1950 OCC AU Disclaimer: I do not own The Vampire Diaries, it belongs to L.J. Smith and The CW.
1. 1951

"This is the subject, a male who appears to be somewhere between 22 and 32, we don't know when it was turned, nor how." a man with brown hair and cold and calculating blue eyes informs.

"Dr. Whitmore?" A girl asks.

"hmm." The aforementioned man says as he looks over some files.

The girls bright sky blue eyes stare into the dark cell, searching for a face hidden by the darkness, "What is his name?" She glances at the man.

He looks up from his papers and gives her a curious look, "I don't know, but it doesn't matter. It's not human, Caroline, and doesn't deserve to be treated as such." The man explains.

The girl, Caroline, nods.

Dr. Whitmore sighs, "Okay, so I just need you to observe him, we will move on from there." He starts walk out but the girl stops him.

Caroline bites her lip, thinking for a moment, before speaking, "What exactly am I looking for?"

Dr. Whitmore stops and turns, "Well nothing in particular, we've had the subject for about 9 years now, I'm more worried you'll be afraid of it. So get acquainted, and after I dissect the subject I'll have you observe the healing process." Dr. Whitmore turns and leaves Caroline alone.

Caroline pulls up a little stool and sits in front of the cell, squinting her eyes, as she crosses her legs.

All the while a man engulfed in the darkness watches the scene unfold in front of him. He has shaggy black hair, deep brown eyes, and a naturally tan complexion. He takes the girl in, the girl so full of light, with her hair as bright as the sun and eyes that show the sky he hasn't seen in nine years.

She draws him in, but he keeps his distance, just out of sight. Yet she sits there, despite not knowing where he is, in silence for what feels like hours. He doesn't quite know, he counts the years by the number of new years eve; but the seconds, hours, days, and months run together in endless torture.

He watches as she fiddles with the sleeve of her dress, how her long fingers fiddle with the fabric as her eyes graze the cell. He gets a little bored and heaves himself off the floor, ignoring the searing pain from his abdomen. His fangs ache to drain every drop of blood from her body as he listens to her steady, strong pulse. He takes a few steps forward and stops, just a ghost of his face shows.

He can hear the moment she spots his form, her pulse quickens and breath pauses fractionally. Her wide blue focus on his dark brown ones, and he longs to see the sky once more after catching the piece her eyes show.

She scoots the stool back to stand, lifting a hand to move closer, but he stops her as he lets his fangs elongate, eyes darken, and veins protrude from beneath his eyes.

He senses her fear and watches her eyes close as she steadies her breath, and he immediately regrets letting his face show. He longs for her to open her eyes again, they are unlike Dr. Whitmore's cold blue eyes, they make him envision summer days.

She gains control and opens her eyes once more, he finds them full of awe instead of disgust or fear. He is taken aback a little, but doesn't show it, instead he holds her gaze.

Caroline doesn't break eye contact, and takes a small step forward, far enough that he can't reach her but close enough she can see more. He lets her look, knowing she will see him on the operating table tomorrow.

He hears the approach of Dr. Whitmore long before the door opens, and steps back into the shadows the moment he hears the door handle move. He moves faster then the eye can see and Caroline lets out a breath of awe. But soon her attention is pulled away from him and to Dr. Whitmore.

Dr. Whitmore takes in her and offers a cold smile, "I see that you have caught a glimpse of the subject."

"He's-" Caroline pauses to find the right word, "beautiful."

Dr. Whitmore is taken aback, his eyebrows shoot together, "I think the word your looking for is dangerous."

Caroline quickly hides her thoughts and nods, "Yes sir."

Dr. Whitmore nods, "Now come along, you can see more tomorrow."

Her blue eyes search the cell for a moment, and he takes in the sky before she leaves. Once they are gone he steps out of the shadows and leans against the bars, pressing slightly even though he knows they won't budge.

 **A/N Sometimes when I write for my other stories I get inspired to start new projects. It's not exactly ideal to start a new story, especially with most of my stories incomplete, but I don't want to lose the idea. Most of my stories don't make it past Document manager, in fear of rejection, but I thought I'd post this to see what comes of it. If even one person thinks it's worth pursuing I will update, but if not then I will delete it or just leave it here. Anyways...please review if you made it this far, and leave your honest opinion!**


	2. Chapter 2

He wakes long before the handlers come in to take him, knowing he could use the rest but bored of the routine. He stands and stretches, enjoying the way his skin expands over his healed skin. Mornings are his favorite, although weak and famished, he feels whole and free of the day before.

He walks over and places his hands on the bars and pulls, knowing it's futile but bored and desperate. After many failed attempts he strains his ears and listens for any life, nothing but the even breaths of the night guard, the one that always falls asleep after everyone else leaves. He snorts at the irony of it, after all he is a top of the food chain predator that could easily end the life of the sleeping human on the other side of the door. If only he had his strength, he would be out of here in a heartbeat.

He closes his eyes and focuses on the sound of the blood pumping throughout the guards body, he feels his fangs come out on their own accord as he listens to the strong steady pulse, as he feels the warmth the blood will provide. His eyes snap open and he begins to rattle the bars, hearing the way the guards pulse quickens in fear of waking to a yet to be identified sound.

The guard misses the lock on his first few attempts but on the fourth the key is in and the door swings open makiing the guards pounding heart even more noticeable. The guards eyes zeros in on him the moment the door opens, and he becomes even more afraid at the sight of the monster in front of him.

But all to soon his enjoyment ends when Dr. Whitmore's voice pierces through the air, "Robert," the guard whips around, "What are you doing?" Whitmore calmly asks.

He retreats to the shadows, watching as Robert becomes frazzled as he tries to explain to Whitmore what happened. Whitmore sighs, "It's okay Robert, Billy and Paul should be here any minute, go home and get some rest." Robert nods and walks as fast as he can without running. Whitmore waits until Robert is gone before entering the room aligned with cells, yet there is the only occupant.

He watches as Whitmore walks to the cage, stepping as close as he can without being in danger. He feels like ripping into the doctor's neck and bringing him to the deaths door but then healing him and starting it all over until he gets his full of the last seven years of starvation and torture. He steps forward, revealing his face. Whitmore takes it in, and his cold blue eyes widen with terror as he steps back. He lets out a small smirk at the doctor's obvious terror.

"Dr. Whitmore?" A girl asks, the same from yesterday, with two men standing behind her.

Whitmore collects himself and turns toward them, he gives them a clinical smile, "Good morning."

A man with short cropped sandy hair steps forward, Paul, his southern drawl shows, "Are you ready?"

Whitmore shakes his head 'no', "You two stay here, Caroline follow me." Whitmore says as he begins to walk away.

He knows exactly where they are going, he's spent seven years in the room being cut open. Paul and Billy, a man with shaggy dark brown hair, and bored brown eyes, stand outside the cell, preparing to take him out. He pays them no mind, going through this daily, instead he strains to hear Whitmore and Caroline's voices.

"Paul and Billy will lay the subject down here, and strap the wrists, arms, biceps, waist, chest, neck, thighs, and ankles down. Next the subject will receive a small amount of vervain as a precautionary." Whitmore says.

Caroline surprises him and Whitmore when she asks, "What about a sedative? Or anesthesia?"

He doesn't let his surprise show, not wanting to startle Billy or Paul, but why would this girl want to keep him from pain? Whitmore seems to have the same thought, "And why would we do that?"

"So he doesn't feel pain, plus it will keep him relaxed and safe since he can't retaliate." Caroline reasons, but her voice has lost it's confidence, she must sense that she said something wrong.

Whitmore's voice changes from apathetic to irritated, "That would be a waste of resources, we are trying to discover what causes them to heal. Once we find that the subject will be terminated."

He can't say he's shocked by the news, he's more annoyed that it's taking them this long to release him of his pain. He stops listening to the conversation and focuses on Paul and Billy, hoping today will be the day one of them messes up and he gets a nice snack before ending every life in this building.

Caroline walks in moments later, looking scared and smaller then she did moments ago. "Paul? Billy?"

The two men snap their heads in her direction, he notices how both of their gazes stray from her face, he laughs at them internally for their lack of self control, especially Billy who's left hand adorns a wedding ring.

She smiles politely at them, "Dr. Whitmore is ready now, can you please bring the subject in."

The men pick up their leisurely pace as Caroline fiddles with her notebook. Billy loads a vervain dart in a shot gun and aims at him, he just watches as trigger is pulled and the bullet flies into his arm, softly grunting at the pain. He sees Caroline jump out of the corner of her eye, but pays her no mind as Billy loads another dart and fires. This time he lets out a hiss of pain, as the liquid burns through his blood stream.

Paul lets out a whistle, "I remember when it only took two."

Billy nods as he loads the gun once more and aims, this one hitting him in the neck and he struggles to stand as they open the cell to take him.

He falls to the ground, and if he weren't in so much pain he would laugh at how just hours earlier he was wishing the door would open. Billy takes the gun and places it on his head, they know it won't kill him, only knock him out, but it's a pretty great deterrent. Paul walks up behind him and places a muzzle on his face, Paul doesn't make a mistake today but he does bare the scars on his hands from what happens when his blood gets to close to a vampires mouth.

They heave him up by the biceps and drag him out of the cell and down the hall to where he will but cut open over and over again for endless hours. He knows he can walk, but he rather have them drag him as a small form of rebellion.

They walk by Caroline and he can see the guilt, sadness, and empathy in her eyes, he looks away knowing if this makes her feel bad what's about to happen will make her run.

The walk must takes a few minutes, especially with his weight slowing them down, but it feels like mere seconds. But the next few hours will be full of endless seconds. Time is a fickle thing.

Paul takes the brunt of his weight as Billy moves to grab his legs, they place him on the table, afterward Paul injects some vervain into his neck before placing a collar that will attach him to the table. All to soon the cool knife is entering the skin of his abdomen, he doesn't even flinch, but Caroline turns green and looks away to scribble some notes.

Dr. Whitmore then moves his hands and scalpel to his kidney and the pain becomes excruciating as a piece of it is taken from his body. His body arches with the pain and his strangled screams fill the room.

"We'll start with something easy today, regeneration of a essential organ." Whitmore says, and begins to relay the information he wants Caroline to write down. His eyes turn to Caroline as Whitmore describes the process of what's happening. The blood has drained from her face in fear and she is biting her lip, to prevent herself from arguing or hurling, he doesn't know.

"Now that it's completely healed we will take it out and see what happens to-" Whitmore says, but soon his mind is filled with pain pushing everything else out.

The rest of the time passes similarly, he can't focus on anything except the pain caused by pieces of his body leaving him.

Whitmore takes his gloves off and disposes of them, "Watch this Caroline," he says gesturing her over with a hand, "We don't even need to stitch the subject up, it's body does it for us." Whitmore sounds almost excited as he explains what is happening.

Caroline looks bothered by the fact that Whitmore doesn't seem to hold any empathy toward him as he lays on the table. She swallows, "What happens if we do stitch him up?" She hesitantly asks.

Whitmore looks away from him to look at Caroline, "He heals faster, and doesn't scar."

"The blood, is it his or..." Caroline trails off.

Whitmore nods, "We thought it was the blood of the victims at first, but no it's the subjects. We have drained it of blood before and then fed it enough to not desiccate. Then checked and it's body starts 'producing blood' and it appears the blood it drank assimilates and disperses to where it is needed most."

Caroline nods, and writes down what the doctor says. Whitmore stands to wash and says, "Paul and Billy."

They nod and and quietly start the task at hand. Paul injects him once again, and they take off his restraints. He can barley stand the pain as the move him to a standing position, his wounds are flaring up and sending a new wave of pain throughout his body. He bites his tongue to not scream out. The walk back to the cell is full of agony, and the handlers seem to enjoy it.

They throw him into the cell and Billy places the gun to his head as Paul takes the muzzle off.

Caroline comes in the moment he is locked in his cage and the handlers leave. They smile at her and she returns it with a shaky smile of her own. He closes his eyes, not wanting them to reveal the pain he's in, not wanting to show weakness.

Once the door closes behind her she lets out a breath, one she must have been holding since they first cut into him. He can't see her, but he knows she's scared and angry based on her breathing and mannerisms as she sits down and tries to focus. Paul comes back in with a small cup of blood, he places it on the floor and uses his boot to slide it within reach.

"When you feed it, make sure you don't get to close or you will be the next meal." Paul says, looking down as Caroline nods.

Paul stays for a moment longer and then says, "I'm going to have to lock the door as I leave, the blood makes it stronger. But don't worry, either Billy or I will be on the other side."

Caroline looks up and smiles, "Thank you."

Paul smiles back and leaves. The sound of the lock reverberates through the room, but Caroline doesn't seem to hear it. He reaches through the bars and takes the cup, Caroline seems fascinated as his face changes.

"Does it hurt?" She whispers, as if afraid the question will make her look stupid.

He ignores her and tosses the cup, it lands by her feet. She is a little off put by his response, and begins to write down the improvement that comes with the blood. The rest of the night is spent in silence, the only noise comes from her scribbling pen. He lays down and imagines the stars that are above his head, just out of sight.

The weeks go by similarly, and one night he decides to ask her one simple question as she watches his skin stitch back together painfully slow without the help of blood. "Why are you here?" He's curious, she is so unlike the other humans he's encountered throughout his years here. She's kind, and sees him as a creature that deserves simple kindness.

She is taken a back as his hoarse voice reaches her ears. She's so shocked she doesn't speak for a while, and he begins to think she wont.

"They didn't tell me you talked." Caroline finally says, still dazed by the sudden realization.

He shrugs, "I don't to them, they are very simple. But you intrigue me."

Her cheeks turn a light pink and she nervously pushes a stray strand of hair behind her ear, "Why?"

He looks to the stool she left in here after Paul and Billy dragged him off to the operating table, the stool she use to sit on. Now she sits on the floor to take her notes.

Caroline flushes further, and she begins to stutter before collecting her thoughts, "There's nothing in there, I though you could use somewhere to sit." She shrugs as if it's not big deal. But it is, he's been here for seven years, the only thing in this cell is him and the clothes on his back.

His eyes don't move from hers, and she begins to fidget before saying, "I'm here because of my parents."

He raises an eyebrow, silently asking her to continue.

She sighs,"My father is from one of the founding families in Mystic Falls, he went to college with Dr. Whitmore. Years later, after Dr. Whitmore started this college to be able use it to do this, he enlisted the founding families for resources. My mother wanted me to learn about the creatures my dad has been protecting me from, she said it was time for me to prepare for the responsibilities I would inherit when they could no longer help the town. My father thought this would be the safest place for me to learn, and called in a favor. I'm here to record everything Dr. Whitmore learns."

She pauses and looks down, "I'm sorry, I talk a lot."

"Talk all you want, otherwise all I will hear is your pulse, the pulses of Paul and Billy who sit outside the door, and Dr. Whitmore who is in his office writing something down." He replies.

She looks shocked, fearful, and amazed, "You can hear all that?"

He nods.

"What else can you hear?" She excitedly asks, notebook forgotten.

He smiles at her eagerness, "I need to focus, but everything on this floor. If I was at full strength I could hear everything that happens in the building, maybe even the wind outside." He says the last part bitterly.

She gets very serious, and hesitates by biting her lip. "What is your name?" She tentatively asks.

"Please turn the lights off." He requests, "Good night, Caroline."

She never told him her name, and although he's heard it from the other men, it still shocks her.

Caroline knocks on the door, and turns the lights off.

"Thank you." He whispers before Paul opens the door and the hall light spills in. She looks over her shoulder before the door closes, taking her and the light with it. He listens to the sound of her heels as she walks away, and listens even after she is long gone.

 **A/N I know this is boring, and they all probably will be like this at first. I need to build a foundation before I move forward with the story.  
**

 **Thank you so much for reading!**

Loveklaroline: Don't worry, I haven't giving up on any of my stories, I'm working on the next chapter for "Riser". As for "You took my soul and wiped it clean", I'm having writers block. If you have any suggestions feel free to let me know :) Thank you for reading and reviewing the first chapter, it means the world to me that you still read my stories even though I haven't had time to write! Caroline is one of my favorite characters, and one I identify with the most, I love writing her. But this won't be through her perspective. I'm glad you liked the first chapter, I hope you enjoyed this one as well. Unfortunately, my next chapter will not be posted until next weekend because I have been avoiding my school work and now I really need to get caught up. Until next time!

mariclerson: Don't worry about spelling mistakes, if it weren't for spellcheck my stories would be riddled with even more spelling errors then they already hold! You only misspelled one word that I noticed; you wrote 'ather" and I believe you meant 'other'. Thank you for taking the time to review and read the story, I appreciate it so much! This will not be a Caroline/Damon fanfic, that's all I'm going to say for now :)


	3. Chapter 3

His eyes are closed, but he is very much awake thinking about what he will do when he escapes. Revenge plans pass the time; the hate and anger keep him from losing his humanity. But his eyes snap open the moment he hears Caroline walk, he can recognize everyone by their gate and smell, but Caroline is the easiest to pick out, she is the only one that wears heels and smells of strawberries and vanilla. He's a little curious, by the sounds of it Robert is still asleep, and he usually wakes up before the first person arrives.

He doesn't move from his place though; he traces invisible patterns on the ceiling of his cell instead. Caroline distracts him once more, he hears her stop in front of the door, and based on Roberts breath he's sleeping. A sigh escapes her lips and he hears her take a few steps forward, "Robert?" Her voice is soft. He is disappointed, wanting her to scare Robert.

"Robert?" She says, this time a little louder.

Robert's heart rate speeds up a little, and he wakes up. What happens next surprises him, he hears the contact of flesh. If he had to make a bet he would say Robert hit Caroline in fear, he was surprised and reacted without thinking. Caroline's sharp intake of breath confirms it, and then he hears Robert apologizing.

"I'm so sorry, you scared me, this job has makes me tense all the time." Robert incoherently pleads.

Caroline voices his thought, he's glad to learn that she has a backbone, "You were just asleep."

Robert pauses, before making up some excuse, "I know, I didn't get much sleep yesterday."

There is a long pause, and Robert soon fills it, "Please don't tell Dr. Whitmore, I need this job. I have three kids, and a wife, if I lost this job we would be out on the street. We're barely making it by as it is."

He can practically see Caroline breaking, and her exhale confirms it, "Fine, but please don't let this happen again."

Robert sighs and relief, "Thank you."

The door unlocks and Caroline walks in flicking the lights on, Robert follows closely with a stool in hand. They stop in front of his cell, Robert places the stool a safe distance and asks, "Do you need anything else?"

"No thank you." Caroline replies.

He watches as she elegantly sits on the seat and pulls out her neat notes, taking in the expensive ring on her left hand, while Robert makes a hasty exit, locking the door behind him.

"The moment everyone's gone he falls asleep." He says.

Caroline pauses her writing, still shocked by his voice. "Hmm?" She inquires, looking up from her notes to him, eyes shinning with curiosity.

He sits up easily, something she writes down, and looks into her sky eyes, "Robert, he sleeps every night."

Her eyebrows shoot up, "He does?"

He snorts, she really does see the best in people, he almost wonders what she sees in him.

He sees no need to answer, so he asks about the ring, "Is that why you're early?"

Caroline has a puzzled expression on her face, he nods toward her hand and she flushes with realization.

"No, yes, well I don't know." She mumbles.

He raises his eyebrows, she is making no sense, but her ease around him is refreshing. Ever since he was captured he hasn't had any human interaction, sans feeling the knife cut pieces out of him and bouts of torture.

Blue eyes focus on the ground as she bites her lip, "It's complicated."

"Everything is, if life weren't complicated it'd be boring. But accepting a proposal seems very simple." He says.

Caroline begins to pull at the sleeves of her sweater, a nervous habit he's noticed, "No it's not. Our families are friends, and we have known each other our whole lives. He asked me out and I felt like I was obligated to say yes, we've been together for six months." She exhales her emotions before continuing, "His proposal wasn't really a surprise, it was expected. This whole relationship is based on expectations, not to mention he's 23 and I'm almost 19, we are at the age that we're supposed to be settling down. He's a lawyer, and pretty successful for his age, not to mention we are both from founding families, it logically makes sense. But, it doesn't feel right." She pauses, and then her eyes grow really wide and her cheeks take on a pink hue, "I'm really sorry, I tend to babble and overshare when I'm stressed."

He was about to comment, but he stops and looks at the door, "Looks like the day is about to start." He mutters, feeling his body tense up with the thought of what's to come.

Caroline follows his line of sight, unable to hear what he said, then the door unlocks causing her to jump in surprise. He lets out a soft chuckle, to soft for any human to hear. The moment Whitmore walks in his demeanor changes from relaxed to enraged. Whitmore doesn't notice the change, he hasn't relaxed in front of the man that rips him apart, so as far as Whitmore knows this is how he always is, rigid as if ready to strike.

Whitmore stops by Caroline, looking down at her, "You're here early, good." He then starts lecturing on Vampires and hypotheses about curing humans.

She looks down at her notes and blows a loose strand of hair out of the way and begins writing, he watches her. He finds it endearing when she mumbles gibberish under her breath while writing furiously as if to write everything before it leaves the memory.

Whitmore pauses, waiting for Caroline's undivided attention, "Today we will be working on the heart, and how it functions." His cold blue eyes are a lit with glee.

He knows Whitmore is discussing this in front of him to ignite some sort of fear, it's no secret that he hates vampires, but instead of fear he ignites hatred so strong that if looks could kill he would be dead a thousand times over. Whitmore loses the glee and goes back to his usually apathetic face, he takes a step toward the door before saying, "Why don't you get something to eat and drink, today is going to be a long day." He then leaves, not waiting for Caroline to reply.

She closes her notebook and looks at him, he senses and sees fear. He does nothing to disprove it, she should be afraid of him not for him. He enters the shadows before she could speak, not wanting her around in this moment. She seems to get the message and leave. She's been here about six weeks to two months, he doesn't quite know as time seems to disappear at times. All his life, ever since he was a human boy, he craved a connection and now here she is offering it freely and he can't accept it or the false hope that comes with will kill him.

Paul and Billy couldn't come soon enough, he needs to take his mind off of this moment of despair. He could turn his humanity off, be done with it, he's thought of it countless times since arriving, but humanity keeps him from letting go of hoping, and he can't lose that or he gives up.

He is sitting in the middle of the cell, on the stool Caroline left, waiting for them before their breaths could even be heard. Billy fires three times; one entering his right forearm, the second enters his abdomen, and the final enters his chest. He does not go down, just sits on the stool without making a sound as the liquid plant burns it's way through his veins. Billy swears as he loads another one, and fires. This one brings him tumbling to the ground, nothing else but pain can be sensed, he does not hear them enter nor feel them put on the restraints.

By the time the last strap is on as he lies on the table, the pain has subsided enough for him to draw outward. He hears Whitmore go over past information, and predictions.

"We had two subjects before him, neither lasted as long," Whitmore says, "The first one had to be put down, we allowed it to desiccate by not feeding it, we thought it was dead but the moment my assistant went in to remove the body so we could dissect it the creature attacked. It went for the jugular and my assistant died, we had to put it down. It took us years to find the next one, and we found the perfect amount of blood to keep them from desiccating but also to keep them weak. It last substantially longer, but when we got to the heart, to see if it regenerates like the other organs, we took the whole thing out and it died. From that, we learned that vampires can be killed by wood to the heart, sunlight, and by removing the heart."

Caroline keeps her eyes to the notebook, Whitmore doesn't seem to notice her aversion to the topic but he does. Whitmore moves to stand over him, a scalpel in one hand ready to cut in, "Okay so first we will make an incision-" He doesn't hear Whitmore finish as he feels the cut into his chest, then Whitmore puts a device in his chest that tears it in two and keeps it open. His beating heart is out for everyone to see. Screams of immeasurable pain tear through the room, pain that no living man can understand.

Whitmore sighs in irritation at the sound, "Can someone please gag it?"

Paul and Billy immediately step forward, ready to silence the sound that brings fear to their soul. His eyes lock with Caroline's as Paul takes off the muzzle and Billy gags him, she is silently crying as she looks on. Her sky eyes are connected with his brown ones, in that moment he realizes she's not crying for the fact that his open chest is a gruesome sight to behold, but for the fact that he is laying there in pain.

"Thank you." Whitmore says in passing, he then moves his knife and stabs the heart, if he weren't a vampire it would kill him, but instead he begins thrashing against the restraints. He feels the restraints rip into his flesh, drawing blood, but he doesn't care about that, to busy trying to escape the knife.

His body lurches as Whitmore pulls the knife out, and a new pain surges through him, one even more terrible than the initial stabbing. His threshold for pain is higher, higher than the average vampire, and much higher than any human, but his heart, like any other vampires, is the most sensitive piece of his body one of the very few things that could kill him. If he could he would reach into his own chest and rip out the beating organ as it heals, anything to end the pain. Once his heart is healed, and the other pain became tolerable, Whitmore moves the scalpel in. He knows what Whitmore's going to do before he even does it, Caroline does too.

"Stop." Her soft voice rings through the room, a room that has been filled with silence after his screams were subdued.

Dr. Whitmore swivels around, some of his blood goes flying and stains her white blouse, "What?" Whitmore asks, his voice filled with venom.

Caroline takes a step back as if she was punched, and she was this morning as the swelling of her lip shows. Her eyes dart around the room, to find support, if he could offer it he would.

The knife clatters as it hits the metal tray after Whitmore drops it, he slowly takes off his gloves and drops them in the trash before standing. All eyes are on him, all but one pair shine with fear and uncertainty.

Whitmore takes a few steps toward Caroline, invading her personal space, he grabs her left wrist and shakes her a little, Paul and Billy tense but neither do anything, "Do you think your here because your of some worth?" Whitmore pauses, as if waiting for an answer, "Your not, you are worthless. I could replace you in a heartbeat. The only reason you are here is because of your father." He spits.

Caroline stares at him with eye full of fear, with a touch of defiance in the sense she doesn't immediately apologize. Whitmore feels the defiance and becomes even more enraged, he rips her left glove off revealing her rind to the world. "Not even the Lockwoods can protect you. This project is to important to them, more important than a useless girl." Whitmore stops his rant, his chest heaving with anger.

Paul steps forward, and in that moment he has never respected the man more, "Maybe we just need a break." Paul's hands are held up as a sign of peace, trying to keep both sides calm.

Whitmore drops Caroline's wrist as if it were infected and he storms out of the room. Caroline stands there, her chest heaving as she tries to calm herself.

Paul walks up to Caroline and places a gentle hand on her elbow, "Go."

She opens her mouth to protest but Paul shakes his head, "You need to go, I'll take the rest of the notes. Come back tomorrow."

Caroline nods and hands the notebook to Paul and slowly walks out of the room, once she's gone Billy swears.

"That girl has some nerve." Billy says, irritated.

Paul shakes his head, "No, she doesn't. She knows she got the job because of her father, but she keeps it because of her connections to Mystic Falls. He won't fire her, she will stay until she deems it's the right time to leave."

Billy sighs and runs a hand through his hair, "She's lucky."

Paul hums in agreement. Billy smokes as Paul looks over Caroline's neat notes, grumbling on the amount of detail he's going to have to replicate. He just lays their with his chest open heart beating steadily, silently thanking Caroline, he has time to heal and he knows this break will cut into Whitmore's busy schedule.

Whitmore comes back, calm as ever, if he notices Caroline's absence he doesn't say anything, instead he throws himself into his work.

 **A/N I'm on the fence about this chapter, to me it feels rushed. Please let me know what you think.** **Thank you for reading, it means so much to me to know that people actually read this!  
**

 **To clarify, false hope is terrible, but hope is not. When I reread that I realized it might cause some confusion. If it does please let me know and I will try to clear it up!**

Loveklaroline: I'm glad your enjoying the story so far! It means the world to me that you take the time to read this and review! Also, thank you for your kind reviews, they always make my day! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I'm not naming names yet, but I'll leave a big clue in the next chapter that will either confirm or deny your prediction ;) As for "Riser", the next chapter of is outlined, and it should be done by next weekend. But "You took my soul and wiped it clean" has nothing in terms of progress, I would love to tell you my plans for the story but I wrote it without putting my thought into it. I know that was a terrible way to start a story, but...Anyways, I have a busy week ahead and you probably won't seem me until next weekend. Thank again, you are the best! Until next time!


	4. Chapter 4

He is rather surprised to hear Caroline come in this morning, after what happened yesterday he was sure she would leave and never come back, yet he hears her soft voice filter through the door, "Good morning Robert."

By the sounds of it Robert is surprised too, "Uh-morning Caroline, I, um, wasn't expecting you this early."

Her soft giggle reverberated through his chest in a way he decides not want to think about.

He stands and lets the shadows wrap around him, waiting for her to come in. His shirt is stained with new blood, covering the old stains and creating new ones, aside from that he looks as he did yesterday morning even if he feels a thousand times worse. The phantom pains of the carving of his heart has him clawing at his chest every now and then, to try and take the pained organ out. But for her, the only human to ever show him kindness in all his years on this planet, he will not add guilt.

The door unlocks, and she walks in, her note book held to her chest by her arm, an arm with a white shirt draped over it. Robert sends her a puzzled look, but shuts and locks the door behind her without a word.

Her eyes seem to find him, even though the human eye can't detect him in this light, she gives a shy smile and holds the shirt out, "I brought one of James' old shirts. It's nothing fancy, but.." She trails off.

He hasn't had a new shirt in years, since before being taken away and locked up. His usually composed poker face dissolves into shock, this girl has no reason to be kind to him. He composes himself and steps out of the shadows, if she's shocked by his appearance she doesn't show it. Her smile widens and she holds the shirt out for him, he takes the fabric as if it was more precious and valuable then a simple cotton shirt one could find anywhere.

"Thank you, gorgeous," she blushes at his comment, "but who is James."

She blinks, "My fiancé." she simply says, there is no utter adoration behind it like someone in love would say about the person they are about to commit the rest of their life to, it's just a simple fact.

He lowers his gaze to her swollen lip, careful makeup applied over it, "And what does your fiancé think of that."

Caroline covers it with her hand, "He threatened to get Robert fired, but I talked him down. Is it noticeable?"

He doesn't answer, seeing no reason to assuage her vanity.

She seems uncomfortable with the silence, and suddenly apologizes, "I'm sorry about yesterday."

He raises a dark brow in slight confusion, if he remembers correctly she tried to stop the whole ordeal, "Please excuse me, but what in the bloody hell are you talking about?"

Caroline's blue eyes search his face as if she doesn't believe him, "I didn't stop them from hurting you yesterday." She pauses, her cheeks are slightly pink with anger and her breathing increases slightly, "Scratch that, I'm sorry for never stopping them. I've been here for months and I've silently stood by as they cut you open and cause you pain. You never asked for any of this." She huffs.

He smiles, a genuine smile, not a smirk. His response seems to deflate her anger and she smiles back at him. "I don't think I've ever seen you smile before." She comments.

"Well, there's not much to smile about." He states, and her demeanor darkens slightly.

Normally he wouldn't do anything to quell others pain, but, "Gorgeous, as you said early, I never asked for this. But," He holds up the shirt she gave him, "I never asked for this either, life is full of things we never asked for. Some are good, and some are bad, that's just a fact."

He takes off his ratty shirt and drops it in the corner of his cell, he has no reason to be modest, this girl sees him cut open 5 days a week. But she blushes and looks away, sometimes he forgets she's a Southern bell. He chuckles at her innocence and quickly puts on the clean shirt. He leans against the wall that's perpendicular to the bars and lets one of his long legs stretch in front of him and bends the other to drape his arm across the knee. "So whens the wedding?"

She chances a look, and when she realizes he's full clothed she looks at him fully. "It's in the winter."

He snorts, she narrows her eyebrow, "What?" she asks.

He shakes his head, "You seem like a summer girl, or a fall girl."

"The summer is to far, it's September right now."

"So wait." He shrugs.

"I can't, my mom is worried someone else will snatch him away." Caroline explains, eyes staring at him with a far away look.

"His loss." He states.

Caroline is now at a loss for words, she focuses her wide sky blue eyes on him.

He looks at her like she's is missing a big piece of the puzzle, "You're a smart, kind, beautiful girl with endless legs, what's not to like?" He teases slightly, but it does the job, she is beat red.

"A house wife." She mumbles.

He gestures for her to continue, she spills almost immediately, "I want a career, and even though we haven't talked about it, I know he wants someone to stay at home to take care of the home and raise children."

"Write down 'Subject seems to be healing normally, but yesterday's dissection seems to be affecting the subject more then previous dissections, it seems slower and favors the area more'." He instructs.

She doesn't listen to him, "Why?"

"Whitmore just walked in, don't make it look like you've been sitting here doing nothing. Then begin to transcribe Paul's notes, so they are more cohesive with your notes." He says.

She raises an eyebrow, he sighs, "Trust me."

He didn't expect those two words to have an affect on her, but, surprisingly, they seemed to as she begins to do as he asked.

Whitmore walks in mere minutes later, he seems more upset about Caroline's presence than surprised, "What are you doing?" He asks, his tone harsh.

Caroline looks up from her notes, "I'm making Paul's notes more cohesive with my previous ones, and writing down observations."

She looks back down at her notes, but not before sending him a smile and mouthing 'thank you'.

Whitmore nods, "Good. Today we will see how much oxygen the subject needs." Without further explanation Whitmore turns on his heel and leaves.

 **A/N Updates for all my stories will be sporadic from here on out, I'm half way through my semester and there seems to be more homework now. I do hope you enjoyed this chapter, it means the world to me when you leave a review with your thoughts! Thank you for reading up to this point!  
**

 **I would like to run an idea by you guys, please let me know what you think. I recently started watching Smallville, I'm only on episode 3 of season 1, but I'm already thinking this would be a great crossover with the Vampire Diaries. Clark Kent looks so much like Damon Salvatore, with some personality similarities akin with Stefan, I was thinking he could be the Salvatore's paternal half brother or a descendant, like Zach's son or something. I know this isn't the best thing, especially with all the unfinished stories I have.  
**

 **I hope Caroline doesn't seem to out of character or anything, but she does seem to talk a lot. Plus she is very trusting of people. Also it's been months, and presumably they've had a few conversations. Not to mention, she doesn't feel as if she can voice any of these opinions about her 'perfect fiancé'. Speaking of said fiancé, James Lockwood is one of Tyler's ancestors.**

Loveklaroline: As always, thank you so much for reading and reviewing my stories! Your reviews mean the world to me! Thank you for addressing the review issue, everything seems sorted out now, but I was able to see the reviews. Don't worry, she's not going to marry Tyler, he's not alive yet. Paul is both kind and mean, I think he sees the world very black and white, for example, he sees vampires as monsters and has no remorse, but he sees Caroline as a scared girl who has yet to grasp what he thinks of as common knowledge about vampires. Sorry for that lengthy explanation :) We are going to see bites and pieces of this story line until I catch up with the show, you will be able to see all the characters; it probably won't be for a few more chapters though. Thank you for your encouragement, I hope to map out the next chapter if nothing else. Until next time (hopefully it's sooner than I think)!

Guest: Thank you for your kind review, I hope you enjoy this chapter as well!


	5. Chapter 5

Once Whitmore has the shut firmly behind him Caroline turns her attention back to him, taking in his relaxed position with slight shock. "Do you know what he means?" She asks, voice barely above a whisper in her fear of the unknown.

He sighs, she really needs to stop wearing her heart on her sleeve. "You need to guard your heart better, or someone is going to steal it." He states, avoiding the question. He doesn't exactly know what's going to happen, but he has a pretty good idea after all the years he's spent here.

He watches as emotions cross her face, one after the other, starting with confusion from the sudden change in topic to a slight blush revealing how much he offended her.

Normally he enjoys ruffling her feathers, she's cute when she's mad, but today he's just not into it. She needs to learn this lesson, the world will take what's pure and taint it, until it's no longer recognizably. She opens her mouth, with probably a clever retort, but he speaks before a word can pass her pink lips, "Finish transcribing everything, the day will be a busy one." He even sounds tired to his own ears; tired of the pain, yet not ready to flip the switch.

Paul and Billy walk in before Caroline's finished, she pauses to smile at them. Their grim faces aren't a good sign, usually they will smile back and occasionally exchange small talk, but today they won't even look at her. Dread fills his veins, whatever has them so tense probably has to do with the torture he will experience.

He stands today, making direct eye contact with Billy, yet Billy can't meet his eyes. Paul can, he has always been able too, he justifies his lack of morals as a way to help the world. Billy accepts the bad he partakes in, knowing it's just a means to an ends. Their behavior only confirms the horrible reality of how human's rationalize their sins.

There's no taunting today, they get straight to business. He's on the floor and restrained before he thinks to look to Caroline to gauge her reaction.

He walks out the room, head held in pride even though he may be walking to his death. They pass the door he's entered everyday since he was dragged into this wretched building. His morbid curiosity takes over, he begins to pay more attention to his surroundings and the small changes in his captors.

The room they enter is much bigger than what he's used to. The focal point of the room is a tank, an empty tank made of glass to reveal what goes on inside. There are no windows to the outside world, causing him great disappointment.

Paul injects him with some vervain before drooping him into the tank. His body makes contact with the concrete floor of the 15 ft tank. He looks up, ignoring the way his bones burn, they shut him in. Water begins to pool around him as fear pools within him. They are going to drown him, take away a crucial piece of sanity; breath. Dr. Whitmore walks in moments later, a small smile on his face as he says something that can't be heard through the sound of rushing water and panes of glass. The water reaches his neck to fast, and soon he has to start treading water to keep his head above water. His head touches the top of the tank, and he takes a deep breath. He pushes against the top, straining his depleted strength, but not ready to give up yet.

He begins to thrash around the container as the water wraps around him, surrounding him in it's embrace as death comes. The water fills his lungs as his body forces him to breath, and no matter how hard he tries, it won't leave. His body heaves with the effort of trying to bring oxygen in and force water out. His fists pound against the glass, cracking the inner layer, but he feels the water flow in and out, taking his strength with him; and his strikes grow weaker. Black dots form, stealing his vision, and panic is overcoming every sense.

His body is soon peaceful, as he floats there with his tenuous grip on consciousness, his mind is full of terror as death comes to steal him from the world for a time. But he knows he will return, he always does no matter how much he wants to stay.

Pain shoots through his abdomen as is contracts to force the water out, forcing him awake. He sits up with vampire speed and coughs water, soon the coughs become more violent until he is vomiting water mixed with blood. Once his body has expelled the water he lies back down, the sudden strength that filled him just moments ago vanished. He takes painful breaths, his lungs ache from their forceful expansion of water. The act of ridding himself of the water leaves his abdomen, chest, and back sore.

Paul soon enters his line of sight and lifts him by his shoulders, someone lifts his legs, Billy he thinks. He briefly sees Caroline's distress, he shakes his head slightly, hoping she gets the message to not intervene. He then feels a split second of free fall before the water surrounds him once more.

Instead of fighting, this time he just lets the water wrap around him until he can no longer hold his breath. His body takes over and tries with all it's might to find air, but it's futile, and he is soon dying all over again. He looks out this time, finding a relaxed Dr. Whitmore, just observing like it's normal to watch people fight for their lives. Paul and Billy can't look, finding other things to occupy them. But Caroline, sweet Caroline, watches with horror. He's a train wreck she can't look away from. Death snatches him with the sight of Caroline's blue eyes filled with horror.

He finds the space between life and death vampires occupy once more, but this time it's in the water. As soon as the water is expelled from his body it enters once more, and his body does everything it can to find the air it so desperately craves. While his mind focuses on the panic, the panic that comes when realizing there is no more air, there is nothing but endless pain until your fade out of life and into death.

This continues on for hours, until Dr. Whitmore ends it. Paul and Billy wait until he dies once more before pulling him out of the tank to secure him. They drop him on their way to his cell as he begins to convulse as water is removed. He is gasping for air before they pick him up, they take care to not drag him through his vomit, he knows it's because they don't want the hassle of cleaning the trail or his cell later. He lets them drag him, not bothering to help as his body expands and contracts painfully to bring life back.

They drop him once they enter his cell, and quickly remove the restraints before leaving. He vaguely hears something about them complaining about his mess, but he doesn't give it much though as he reacquaints himself with the taste of air.

He rearranges himself so he's on his back instead of his stomach, relieving some of the pressure on his chest. He notices Caroline for the first time; before his brain only focused on the pain.

She stares at him with wide blue eyes, he can see her replaying the scene over and over in her mind. He has a feeling that she has drowned before, based on her empathetic response.

His throat is dry and sore from fighting the water, he coughs a little and she jumps. She slowly stands, on shaky legs, and leaves the room for a moment. She returns with a small serving of blood, and he feels his face change on it's own accord. She sticks her hand in between the bars and rests the cup as close to him as she can get, usually he would argue and explain to her he could kill her or he would scare her. But he's too weak, in all his years here, not once have they temporarily killed him.

The blood brings immediate relief, and he moves to a sitting position before finishing it. Although weak, he feels tremendously better, feeling this will be a faster experiment to heal from compared to his open heart surgery.

Dr. Whitmore walks in, and he begins telling Caroline the progress they made today. When the cup is empty of all traces of blood he throws it, hitting Whitmore directly in the chest. Whitmore takes a little step back to regain his balance, the cup was thrown with his greatest strength, which he gets after feeding.

Whitmore's usually apathetic face contorts with rage, but it is gone as soon as it came. He readjusts his glasses and says with a sigh, "The mental stress it underwent today was probably equal to the psychical stress. But we will never know, the vampire's mental state is a mystery." Whitmore speculates before leaving.

He smirks, noting that Whitmore's gait is more tense as he leaves than when he entered.

The room loses some of it's tension the moment Whitmore leaves, what remains is a combination of his hatred for this place and the pretty blonde girl who is still carrying today's earlier events with her.

Caroline tilts her head forward and focuses on his notes, something he's grateful for. Usually he looks forward to talking to her, it's challenging and a wonderful change to the usual silence, but right now he just wants to heal.

After a few minutes of listening to Caroline's pen scratch against the paper, his heartbeat has begun to smooth out into a strong steady rhythm, contrasting to the earlier strenuous, panicked beat of his organ. What pleases him most in this moment is the way his lungs expand, full of air, and then contract as the air leaves him. Such a simple act as breathing had brought a new appreciation for the air he used to take for granted.

"How are you doing?" She suddenly ask. Not that he should have been surprised, the pen stopped it's furious scrapping against the paper and she's not one for long periods of silence.

He brushes her concern aside, "To be honest, gorgeous, I am tortured everyday. I have people cut into me, day after day. I'm starved. The closest thing I get to sunshine, is your hair. Tell me something else, anything." He says, wanting to take his mind off of his captivity, even for just a moment.

Caroline takes a deep breath, he closes his eyes and listens to the way her lungs expand before the air is let out. "The day I got my acceptance letter. I was so excited," He smiles slightly, closing his eyes as he imagines her unadulterated joy, "I told my parents, they shared a look and then sat me down to change my life. They told me about vampires." She lets out a small laugh.

He opens his heavy eyelids and focuses his brown eyes on her. Her sky blue eyes are looking at him, but they are focused on the memory she is in.

"Little did I know they were telling the truth. They told me about a special internship with Dr. Whitmore, to prepare me for when they can no longer protect the town. My mother gave me a crash course about vampire, telling me that they are emotionless creatures that kill for pleasure. I came here, utterly terrified, I've only known about vampires for three months previously to meeting one." She pauses, her blue eyes focusing on him, "Then I met you. And now I don't know what to think." She says.

He doesn't want to touch that topic, it would be better for her health to think like her parents, even if they are wrong. Instead he smirks, "I didn't know about vampires until I became one."

He can see the curiosity in her eyes, anticipating the question before it comes, "What happened?" She breathes, sitting on the edge of her seat in curiosity.

He moves slightly, so his body is facing hers, she needs to understand what he is. "I died of consumption on a ship headed towards America from England. When my eyes opened I found everyone slaughtered except one man, the man was a Doctor. He failed me, and then I found him bleeding. It awoke a hunger in me that I have never felt before, I did the unthinkable and drank his blood." He pauses, watching her face.

In this moment he is grateful that she wears her heart on her sleeve, because he can see the disgust and fear written on her face, but it's clear that she is sitting here with an open mind, free of judgment, as he tells her about the beginnings of the monster he is. He wishes she would just fear and hate him, see him as a monster, because anything else will be ruined when she finds out the true darkness he holds.

He continues, "Fangs priced through my gums and looked up and found black eyes, revealing the black soul within, and gray veins protruding underneath the eyes, and blood dripping down the face. A monster stood where my reflection should have been. I escaped the boat before anyone found me, learning about vampires as I became one." This was the beginning of his life as a vampire.

She opens her mouth, but he speaks before she could dig deeper, "It's getting late, we both need our rest." He states, pulling back within himself.

Caroline snaps her mouth shut with an audible click, and nods. She stands and gives him a smile, "Good night." She says before leaving. She looks over her shoulder before knocking on the door, he doesn't move from his position against the wall as he enjoys the air that fills and leaves his lungs; much better that the water that occupied them earlier.

Billy opens the door and Caroline shuts the lights off before the door is closed and locked behind her.

He closes his eyes, he told her something that few know about him. He's getting to close to her, and allowing her to get to close to him. He sighs, knowing it's wrong no matter how good the connection feels.

 **A/N I hope this story is not too boring. I know it's taking a while to pick up, but I don't want to rush anything. One more note, I have never drowned, so I do know what it's like. If you have any recommendations regarding that area, please let me know. As always, thank you for reading!**

Loveklaroline: I hope I was able to add to Paul in this chapter. I'm glad you love Caroline, I'm trying to make her like pre-vampire Caroline where is is insecure and vain, not that she still isn't, but vampire Caroline is more confident with who she is. If I ever stray from Caroline, please let me know. I'm not going to reveal who it is before Caroline finds out, so I neither confirm nor deny your guess. Thank you so much! School is going well! I've decided to promise this, I will finish this story and/or _Somebody Catch My Breath, I'm a Goner_ before starting a new story, but thank you so much for reading what I write. You are the best! Have a great week! Until next time!


	6. Chapter 6

He is listening to Robert's heartbeat, the sole noise in his lonely cell. It's the only thing occupying his mind, the only noise on this level. The rats are too smart to room with a vampire, and the bugs aren't dumb enough to want to be anywhere near him. The only life on this level is Robert, and Caroline. His eyes snap open, recognizing her scent. He may not know what the time is, but he does know that the night hasn't dragged on long enough for her to be here. He sits up and leans against the wall perpendicular to the bars, curious to see what this is all about.

Robert must be puzzled as well, if his face and over all demeanor have anything to say as he opens the door for Caroline. Robert quickly closes and locks the door, avoiding talking to Caroline. She may not realize it, but she has the power to take his job away.

Caroline settles in the stool before the cell, letting the bag hanging off her shoulder to fall to the ground beside her. She pulls out a notebook and a copy of _Romeo and Juliet._

He doesn't bother to speak, just raises a dark eyebrow. Caroline takes in his subtle movement and smiles shyly. "This may sound crazy, but I focus better down here without all the distractions." she says.

"I don't know gorgeous, I think I'm a pretty big distraction." He says with a cheeky smile.

She turns scarlet, and he chuckles. "What do you need to focus on, other than myself?" He asks, after all the only reason she's here is to take notes about him.

Caroline senses the double meaning, and her blush deepens, but she doesn't reprimand him. "I have a paper due in a few days, about _Romeo and Juliet._ Our teacher is leaving this assignment open, so I don't know what to write about."

"And that fear of the unknown left you paralyzed?" He insinuates.

Caroline nods, blonde curls bouncing. "I've waited so long, that now I'm thinking the only thing I can write about is the tragedy their love was."

"That's boring." He says bluntly.

Her eyebrows raise in shock, "But that's what the stories about."

He nods, "In a way. But if this paper is open for interpretation, don't do the obvious choice, think outside of the cell." He quips.

She rolls her sky eyes at his lame joke, "Like what."

He shrugs, "I personally think their love is stupid."

Now she looks hurt, like he crushed her dream, "No, their love is beautiful." Caroline defends, as if it was her own love on the line.

"Now this is a subjective opinion, but lets look at some examples. First off, he's in his early twenties and she's around 14. That makes him a pedophile. Secondly, they barely knew each other. Thirdly they had poor communication, which one could argue was due to the time they lived in, but it still resulted in their untimely death. This brings me into my next point, death is not the answer. There are millions of men out there, men that might give you an even better relationship than whatever they had. And lastly, love does not conquer all. But death does." He says.

Caroline look deflated, "That makes sense, but what if they were living now? In the 1950s they may have a chance at finding enduring love."

"Love can be found with multiple people, that's why widows move on after the death of their spouse." He counters.

"Not to mention, they could have had everything going for them, and then discover they don't work well together after the drama is over." Caroline adds.

He smiles, "What are you going to write about?"

" _Romeo and Juliet_ in the modern era." Caroline says.

They spend the next few hours debating certain pieces of her paper; until they either compromise or Caroline does what she wants. Caroline blows a stray piece of hair out of her face and looks up at him, a brilliant smile on her face, "This is only the rough draft, but I think it's great so far." She hands the paper over.

He takes it and reads it over, and then motions for the pen, she says, "Are you sure?"

He rolls his dark eyes, "English is my second language, I may not have a fancy degree but I can make corrections."

Caroline hands him the pen as she asks, "What's your first language?"

"Italian." He says as he scribbles over her need handwriting. His scrawl looks unworthy next to her flawless handwriting. He nods his head, and mutters under his breath. He rereads the paper with his corrections, and once he's satisfied he hands it back.

"Great job, if your teacher doesn't give you an A, I'll eat him." He threatens playfully.

She picks up on his tone and laughs, "Thank you. Now, how are you at history?"

"Seeings though that I lived through most of it, I'm pretty good." He smirks.

Caroline looks like a deer in the headlights, for a moment it was though she forgot that he has lived longer than her, and he finds it marvelous that she treats him normally and with respect.

He tilts his head, hearing the familiar gait of Dr. Whitmore, "Better get your workbook out."

For the first time since he's known her, she doesn't argue, just trusts him and soon has her notebook laid across her lap where she writes her observations of the day thus far.

Dr. Whitmore walks in heartbeats later, glancing at Caroline's notes before looking at him. "He seems lively, more so than normal." Dr. Whitmore states.

Caroline hums in agreement, writing that down before looking up to listen.

Dr. Whitmore nods, "He didn't lose nearly as much blood as he usually does, there was some in his bile, but nothing significant."

His eyes connect with Caroline's while Whitmore speculates, the realization that dawns on her face and guilt settles in her eyes.

"I'll go get Paul and Billy." Whitmore says, effectively ending the conversation.

His boots click as he walks out, and the door shuts firmly behind him.

Caroline opens her mouth but he cuts her off, "What's done is done, there's no use in feeling pity for something outside of your control."

Paul and Billy come in moments later, and they are more generous with the vervain this morning. They restrain him before picking him up by his biceps and drag him toward the table stained with his blood.

Whitmore is already there, with various tools to cut in and take pieces away. What surprises him is the lack of creativity, all Dr. Whitmore does is drain him of some blood before doing the basics. He loses pieces of himself, but they regenerate. Although the pain is excruciating, it's nothing he hasn't experienced before.

He must have spoken to soon as Whitmore severs his right ring and pinky finger, causing him to cry out in pain. His fingers won't come back, that much he knows. It takes Whitmore sometime to come to that conclusion, but soon he reattaches the dead flesh to the hand and watches as his body brings life back to the appendages.

"Now that's fascinating." Whitmore says _._

Whitmore then asks Paul to go get a saw, and Caroline pales. He can only imagine what he's going to lose next as he braces himself for the pain. It is pain that brings stars to his eyes and rips a roar out of his throat, his features become the monster within, ready to fight for it's life. Unfortunately, the restraints coupled with Paul and Billy's tight grips keeps him at bay while the saw moves in a steady motion back and forth at a downward angle. It feels like days have passed, but soon his right leg under the knee is no longer attached. The pain of the lost outweighs the pain of losing it; he thrashes against the restraints.

He begs inwardly as he screams in pain, he begs for unconsciousness to take him. But it never does.

Dr. Whitmore leans back, leaving the saw on his subject's torso to rest while he wipes the sweat from his brow. "Caroline, please write the process the lower leg is going through." Whitmore instructs.

He hears Caroline gulp, and the scribble of her pen, but he has no energy to turn to her. Not that looking at her will help.

Whitmore attaches the leg, and waits for it to heal before letting Billy and Paul move him back to the cell.

He closes his eyes, and focus on the feelings of his right leg, reacquainting himself with the appendage. He wiggles his toes, moves his heel to the ceiling to stretch the calf, and points his toes. It hurts, and feels awkward, but by tomorrow morning he should be fine. Paul and Billy quickly free him of his restraints, and move him to his feet. He takes one step, feeling the strength return to his leg, but his new weakness makes him to slow to keep up with Paul and Billy, and he is dragged back to his cell. The boys drop him in his cell and the lock it behind them, before leaving to clean up the mess.

He stands, favoring his right leg, when he is left alone with Caroline. Caroline watches, notebook shut on her lap. It takes him moments to walk, and after a few minutes he is able to run as fast as he can in his weakened state. He stops in front of the cell, resting his forearms on the bars and leaning on them.

She writes some stuff down, and once she's done she says, "It's unfair, and I wish I could take your pain away."

"It's not your fault. Just go home, and hug your loved ones a little tighter." He instructs.

Caroline nods and moves to leave, "Good night." She says before knocking on the door to alert whoever sits on the other side she's ready to go. She turns the lights off, bathing him in darkness, as she leaves.

In the darkness he allows himself to break a little, to let the hopelessness fill him. He searched for the switch, the one that will make him emotionless, finding it with ease. He toys with the idea, as he breaths in the faint sent Caroline left.

The weeks go by in a similar fashion, Dr. Whitmore tests the extent to which of his body parts he can lose.

Caroline comes in early one morning with a bright smile painted on her face. She has wonderful news, he can see it in her eyes. There's a paper in her hands and she stops in front of his cell, to close for his comfort, and holds the paper out.

He takes it, slightly confused by her attitude. "Congratulations gorgeous." Seeing the A and reading the comments on her paper.

She then talks for a while about some other writing assignments she's working on, and how his advice is helpful. He doesn't pay attention, to busy basking in her passion. She clearly loves writing, especially reports, something she may lose after she gets married.

"Take off your necklace." He suddenly instructs.

Caroline's hand goes to her necklace, "Why? It's a gift from my parents."

"I'll explain in a moment." He says.

She looks skeptical, but does as asked, resting the necklace on her bag. "Please hold out your wrist." He says.

He can see the questions in her eyes, but she voices none of them. He moves toward her wrist, nose almost touching the tender flesh, and he retreats with a smile. "Your necklace holds vervain, meaning I can't compel you. And your blood is free of it, meaning your haven't digested it."

Caroline nods, and he sighs, she has to much trust in him. "Will you let me compel you?" He asks, not wanting to ruin her trust.

"To do what?" She asks.

"To be happy." He answers.

His honesty must shine through, because she becomes the first human he knows of to agree to mind control by a creature that can easily take whatever he wants. "Yes." She says.

He contracts his pupils, and her blue ones become memorized, in this moment he can take whatever he wants from her. Instead, he gives her something, "Tell your fiancé about your ambitions." He then sets her mind free.

She blinks and their conversation goes back to her paper after he reminds her to put the necklace on.

 **A/N Unfortunately, I do not speak Italian and I don't completely trust google translate. That being said, if anyone out there does speak Italian and wouldn't mind helping me include it, please let me know!**

 **I haven't read** _Romeo and Juliet_ **recently, it's been 6ish years. Also, the opinions expressed in this are completely subjective, I don't mean to offend any one.**

 **I took some liberties with the healing ability of Vampires, since the show leaves it vague in some areas.**

 **I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and if there's anything you would like to see please leave a comment or send a PM.**

 **Thank you for reading!**

Loveklarolin: As always, thank you so much for your kind reviews! You always make my day with your wonderful reviews! I can't really comment on the rest of your review without spoiling anything, but I can promise this, the identity of the vampire will be revealed in four chapters. I also wanted to thank you for your review on _Kai Salvatore?_! That story is mostly about Kai, and his relationships with the core character's of TVD. As for Damon and Caroline, I can't tell you, yet ;) Until next time!


	7. Chapter 7

"I'm going to have a summer wedding!" Is the first phrase to leave her mouth on this ordinary morning.

His ears perk up, he has no idea what she's talking about. "That's lovely darling, but what are you talking about." He states.

Caroline's smile is even brighter than it was before, "For some reason last night, during dinner with James, I felt the need to talk about school. I had a feeling that after we got married he would want children right away, and I was right. I told him that I wanted to finish school before becoming a mom, stating the importance of education. James agreed, which surprised me. We talked some more, and i wanted to talk about maybe pursuing a career, but he glossed over the topic. We pushed the wedding back, and he is encouraging me to get my bachelors degree!" Caroline is beaming, he can tell that she is happy to have support for her dreams.

Her smile dims a little with her next confession, "My parents, my mother especially, weren't to happy about this. I have another year and a half to get my degree, meaning I won't be getting married until the summer after I graduate. My mom's worried he will leave me, and I'll be a little 'old' when I marry. But what's done is done."

He smiles, his secret hidden, "I'm happy for you gorgeous. I do think talking about your future with him is important before committing a lifetime, whether it be a career and a mother or just a mother. But now you have time."

Caroline breathes, "I do."

She suddenly smiles, showing off her perfect teeth, "When did you become a love expert?"

He chuckles, "After seeing all that I have, you learn a bit."

Although his tone is light, his message is dark. Caroline picks up on it, and ever the one who feels the need to help she says, "I'm sorry."

He sighs, "Life, gorgeous, is full of ups and downs. Without pain how can we fully appreciate love?" He pauses for a moment, allowing it to fully sink in before bringing a lighter atmosphere, "I think I've experienced enough downs for a lifetime."

He smiles, showing off his teeth, and gets an immediate response. Caroline's face lights up with the shift and she relaxes.

"Love comes with passion and happiness, the keys to living a fulfilling life. I hope you find those things." He sincerely says.

She smiles, "Thank you."

He stands, "It looks like the day's about to start." Hearing the buzzing just a floor above.

The routine is mundane to say the least. He stands there, waiting for Billy to shoot enough vervain in him to feel something. Then he lays on the ground, waiting for Paul and Billy to put a muzzle on him, like one would do a dog. The march to the room where he is continuously cut open, day after day, doesn't bring the fear it did in that first year, instead it brings a morbid excitement for change. The pain won't be the same, the experiment won't be the same, and that's enough to change up the routine that he feels _something._

He sighs, his treacherous soul, reminds him that Caroline is a refreshing change. She is the only being, aside from the ramblings in his head, that he talks to. Her conversations are becoming his favorite part of his day, and he hates that. If he lets her in, more pain will inevitably follow. If he flips his switch, he would silence his stupid soul and not have to worry about the pain Caroline could cause, but it would be like giving up.

He was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn't notice they entered the room until the straps were being tightened. Whitmore is ready once Paul and Billy secure him, and he immediately sets off to work. Today all of his limbs stay attached, Whitmore just expertly cuts into his ear. Countless hours are spent with him not being able to hear his own screams as Whitmore maims him.

With his hearing gone, everything else heightens. It takes a few hours, but soon his sense of smell increase tenfold.

He can smell the cigarettes on Paul's breath, the toothpaste he used this morning, what he had for breakfast, the slight smell of brandy, the detergent on his clothes, the smell of gasoline and oil from his car, the dirt on his shoes, and everything else.

He can smell the coffee mixed with whiskey on Billy's breath, his clothes that smell like yesterday, his wife's perfume, his children, his fear.

Whitmore produces a different smell, it's very sterile, but he can also smell his breakfast, his wife's lipstick, his car, everyplace he's been to today, his detergent, and his determination among other things.

He can smell the fear and regret on Caroline among everything else he has come to associate with her.

But what gets to him most, is the smell of there blood. The smell is so strong he is salivating and the monster appears on his face, where it stays for hours. He can only imagine how sweet it tastes.

His sight changes too, everything is more vivid and clear. This only happens when he is on a blood high, something he hasn't been on in decades. The light streaming in from the window, the light that barely misses his skin, is so bright it burns his eyes. The blue of Caroline's eyes is so vivid it's unreal.

The sense of touch becomes so sensitive, he can feel everything in the room. All the slight signals the human's body gives off. The change in their breath. The air in the room feels like a blanket of water moving over him as it circulates. Each cut, though, is a thousand times more excruciating.

But his lack of hearing leaves him empty, there is no noise to chase away the demons in his head, the demons that keep telling him to give up. The demons that tell him there is nothing for him on this planet, that he should just embrace hell now. The memories the demons bring him of being abandoned on his own since he was four. He has always been alone, and always will be.

Not even the smell of blood, his source of life, can save him from the most fatal thing on the planet, hopelessness. Nothing is worse than not having anything to keep going for. Up until this point, his only source of hope was the thought of revenge, but it's starting to crumble. That is the worst torture of all.

His hearing doesn't come back subtlety, it comes back all at once. Dr. Whitmore rings a bell, it sounds like firecrackers going off and bouncing around in his head. The noise is agonizing as he lunges for the source, ready to end it, but he can't move due to the restraints.

"It took him ten minutes to regain hearing, and it appears that he regained it all back at once." Whitmore's voice grates on his ears.

The sound of Caroline's pencil scraping on the paper makes his skin crawl. If he could, he would press his palms into his ears, anything to make the noise stop.

But he can't, instead has to listen to the straps be removed, the door open, the foot steps echoing through the hall, the sound of the restrains being removed, the key in the door of the cell as it is locked, the sound of Caroline sitting, the sound of boots hitting concrete as they leave, the sound of their heartbeat, their breaths, their blood flowing, the sound of everything assaults his ears.

It soon settles down, with the guys standing out side the door and both Whitmore and Caroline taking notes. All the heartbeats are steady, and the blood flow is as well. The noise is still bothering him, but it is taking on a pattern. Every new noise does startle him, though.

Caroline begins to hum a tune in her head, one he can't identify. After recently reuniting with his hearing, her soft voice sounds thunderous, but he lets it calm him as he gets reacquainted with all the sound of his cell. He begins to focus on her voice, and it starts to block out the rest of the noise.

Most of the regular noises in his cell have become background noise that he was able to tune out after years as a vampire, but now everything's new. He doesn't speak to her, and soon she leaves. The lights turn off, bathing him in darkness, and seemingly increasing the noises.

 **A/N Just a random question, why aren't there any Caroline/Jacob Black stories in the Twilight/Vampire Diaries Crossover section? I periodically look for them, but no one seems to writes any. Does anyone know why?**

 **I hope this chapter wasn't to much, with the descriptions of everything. But I wanted to capture what he was going through. Please let me know how I can improve.**

 **Thank you for reading!**

 **I can't promise when the next chapter will be, it's close to the end of school and projects and tests seem to be more frequent. But I will post _at least_ one more chapter before the year ends.  
**

Loveklaroline: Don't worry about not having an account, it took me a year before I finally committed to having one. I will not reveal any major spoilers, but you are definitely on the right track! I know I probably sound like a broken record by now, but thank you so much for all of your kind reviews! They mean the world to me! You are such an encouraging and wonderful human being, thank you! I was kind of nervous posting about _Romeo and Juliet_ because it's been years since I've read it and it's a classic, so thank you for your comment! As for _Kai Salvatore?_ and _Riser_ the next chapters are half way through the rough draft phase, they should be out soon. I can't say the same for _You took my soul and wiped it clean_ , I'm having some serious writers block with that story. I wasn't going to post this chapter until the weekend, but after reading your kind review I am going to post it early! I can't promise this will ever happen again, especially since the next chapter isn't even finished, but another chapter will be posted before the year ends. Sorry for this super long reply :) Until next time!


	8. Chapter 8

"Merry Christmas!" Caroline beams as she walks in, carrying a plate of cookies.

His eye flutter open from the rare moment of sleep his body forces when it gets to be to much. He must have been in a deep sleep, which explains both the memories drudged up from the past by the demons that live within him and his inability to sense Caroline before she announced her presence.

He lies still, calming his mind and breathing in the smell of sugar cookies, slightly burnt, if his nose doesn't deceive him.

"Well it's technically not Christmas, it's the 23rd, but I thought I would make bring you some cookies!" Caroline says with rosy read cheeks.

He lets out a soft chuckle, "Why thank you, but I don't think sugar cookies are part of my diet."

Caroline tilts her head, her long blonde waves roll off her shoulder and he briefly wonder's if they are as soft as they look, but he pushes the thought aside as he takes in the curiosity that shines through her blue eyes. "Can you eat food?" She asks the question as if afraid of being chastise for something that seems so obvious.

"Yes, but it doesn't do much to sate the hunger that growls in my stomach that makes me want to rip your throat out with every fiber of my being." He simply states, his stare turning into one of a predator. It's better having her fear him than doing small things that slowly chips away at his walls.

But then she puts a hand on the soft flesh of her neck and he loses his resolve with a chuckle, "Gorgeous, you have blood flowing through your entire body, from the very tip of your nose to your toes, you can't cover it up." He gently teases.

Caroline blushes to her roots, and he smiles at her adorableness.

He decides to give her a break, "I didn't know you baked."

"I don't, baked goods aren't good for the figure, but my mother always says the best way to a man's heart is through his stomach, and she encouraged me to try some baking. I made a ton for James and thought I would spread the Christmas cheer." Caroline hastily explains.

He rolls his eyes at her vanity, but then pokes some fun, "Whitmore's has been in my stomach countless times, is he trying to get my heart?"

It's Caroline's turn to roll her eyes at his sadistic humor, but she can't keep the small smile off her face. "Would you like one?" She effectively changes the conversation.

He can't refuse her, especially when she looks at him with wide innocent baby blue's that are framed by dark lashes with a shinning smile to add to the effect, "Save me one, Whitmore doesn't fancy his slaves eating before cutting their stomachs out of their abdomen."

Caroline looks a little green at the thought, and is slow to the reply, "Okay then, I'll go put them out and hope nobody eats them."

He watches her long legs as she leaves, thinking about how hard she tries when she's already imperfectly beautiful. His train of thought is cut off when Paul and Billy walk in.

Today Dr. Whitmore does not touch the stomach, and most of his cuts are calculated but lazy, it's almost as if he's ready to go on holiday.

Whitmore slowly pulls back the skin, trying to unlock the secrets of the largest organ of the body. The skin that doesn't age, no matter how much time passes. The skin that leaves not a blemish, no matter how deep the cut.

After cutting the skin, taking samples, and watching Whitmore watch him heal, he becomes bored.

He spoke to soon, now Whitmore is pealing the skin back to time how long it will take for him to burn. Apparently his skin offers minuscule protection from the sun, because before he would feel a burning sensation before the skin burst into a life ending flame, but now the burning sensation is skipped in favor of simply lighting a flame that spreads rapidly. Whitmore blocks the sun, putting the flame out, to observe the healing of the muscles and skin. The stench of burning flesh spreads throughout the room as every nerve on his forearm slowly gains back feeling, but the feeling brought is one of immense pain.

The combustion point of his skin, muscles, and bones are tested throughout the day, each session varying in time but feeling like an eternity. His nerves are burnt to the point where he doesn't feel, and even though he knows this will be a killer later when he is healing, he lets the absolute painlessness of not being able to feel wash over him. Throughout each experiment he waits eagerly for his nerves to be burnt, to lose feeling, to be free of pain. It's sick, he knows, but there's so little time in this existence to enjoy a pain free moment, so he relishes in any he can take.

The hours stretch on, despite Whitmore's earlier appearance of a certain laziness that only thought of a break can bring.

Not soon enough, his nerves are healing, bringing the pain of the burns to the forefront of his mind as the rest of his body heals.

"Clean this up." Whitmore instructs as he takes his gloves off and disposes of them. He just hears Whitmore's voice above his own screams, the brief thought of burnt cookies pass through his mind before the pain forces everything out.

The room stays still, sans his thrashing against his restraints to run from the pain, until the only thing left of Whitmore is the echoing of his shoes as they hit the concrete floor.

Paul and Billy make quick work of his restraints and travel back to his cell, both ready for their upcoming paid break.

Moments later, all that's left is his raged breathing and a girl who writes down everything but their shared conversations.

He wants to look at her, to take his mind off the pain, but the sunshine of Caroline's hair brings a memory of a burning sensation, he can't imagine what the sight of the actual sun will bring him, that's all contingent on the fact he will get to see the sun again.

So instead he croaks out, "I think I could use a cookie now." to get her away so the memory can fade into his mind and his pain can subside.

Caroline jumps up, eager to help in any and every way. Normally her presence soothes him, and takes his mind off of what's left of his life, if one could even call this existence living, but right now she brings him pain. He is too busy breathing to waste a breath on a hallow laugh at the thought of the one thing that brings him a small solace is also the thing that brings him pain.

He pushes those thoughts aside, knowing they will just give the demons the pressure him to give up more fuel, and sits up.

Caroline walks in, with a few smuggled cookies, Whitmore can't know after all, and a hesitant smile adorns her face. She's so eager to please, that if he tells her how awful the cookies are she will probably deflate into a husk of what she is right now.

"I'm sorry gorgeous, but your service is horrible and I will not be paying for it." He teases.

It works, Caroline relaxes as she slides the napkin with cookies on it into his cell. He's starving, but not for this, nevertheless, he takes the cookies and is dramatic about taking a bite.

Not surprisingly they are the best cookies he's had in a while; they are overcooked like he initially thought, and a little too sweet, but all in all there is potential to make her an expert baker and this is the first thing he's tasted, aside from his blood amount, in years.

She looks at him expectantly, waiting on the edge of her stool with her fingers wrapped around her notebook as her to bright blue eyes stare at him.

He eats the rest of it in one bite, not caring about the crumbs that fall to the ground, and smiles at her with food in his mouth. She recoils slightly, due to the unusual lack of manners from him, but still waits for his response.

He swallows, "I'm a little parched," cue Caroline's eye roll and his smirk, "but they were sweet, just like you."

Caroline blushes at the compliment and says, "Honestly, how can I improve?"

"Take them out sooner, and don't go over board with the sugar. But your decorations are perfect." He gives her his honest opinion without being hurtful.

She looks doubtful, so he adds on to his compliment, knowing she will need the confidence if her family and soon-to-be family are as judgmental as she describes, "Your cookies look like perfect trees, right down to the garland and ornaments."

Caroline gives him the brightest smile he has ever seen on a human and says, "Thank you!"

He laughs, she's just so simple to please, it's endearing. "You're welcome gorgeous, now tell me about your holiday plans."

Caroline begins to rattle off, with extreme detail, her plans for the next few days, involving her family and her fiancé's family. He smiles, not really listening, basking in her presence.

She takes a deep breath before asking, "What about you?"

It takes him a moment to realize, but once he does he smiles, "I'll be enjoying my days off of human interaction, by simply being grateful that I won't be in pain."

Her smile is sad, and he speaks before she can, "Don't be sorry. This," he pauses, trying to find the right word, "experience has helped me appreciate the small things. Now go, enjoy your family."

She nods, and throws him one more 'Merry Christmas' before leaving.

He eases into the wall, ready to enjoy his mini holiday from pain.

"Merry Christmas, Caroline." his voice is too soft to reach her ears as she walks out.

 **A/N unfortunately this will probably be the last chapter of the year, the next one is mapped out but not finished. I hope you enjoyed this and have a wonderful end to this spectacular year!**

 **Thank you so much for reading, I will probably see you in 2017!**

Loveklaroline: I should be thanking you, you read my stories and always take the time to review. Your reviews are some of the nicest ones I have ever received, and I look forward to seeing them (: I think I understand, and I do agree! When you find out who the vampire is then you will know exactly when he escapes ;) I think I can do that, probably in _Somebody Catch My Breath, I'm a Goner,_ or I could do a one shot. If it is a one shot, are there any particular characters you would like to see (Or I can do a one shot that is set before _A Drop in the Ocean_ of Caroline in District 4 before the reaping)? Thanks any way. Until next time!


	9. 1952

He didn't realize how much Caroline became part of his day until he saw her on the 28th of December.

The moment his eyes lock with her sky eyes, a smile spreads across her face and the weight of the loneliness he has become accustom to throughout his life lifts partially; this is the lightest he's felt in a long time; _too long_ his heart heaves.

He feels this discomfort as he begins to realize Caroline means more to him than he would like to admit, even to himself. If she has this power of his mood, it means she has wormed her way into his dark heart, making him feel things he would rather not. Any attachment to mortality, no matter how small, will be his ultimate undoing.

Caroline settles on the stool, toying with the hem of her sleeve, "Dr. Whitmore says I have to go to the New Years Eve party. Do you know what it is?"

He groans, "Is it already that time of the year?"

Caroline tilts her head, confused by his statement. He smirks, "Every year the school hosts a party, raving about all the new discoveries find. Everyone who knows about vampires will be attending. Meaning I can come out, where I'll be standing in a vervian laced cage the whole night. I regret to inform you that the days leading up to this party will be very boring, I just lay in my cell without blood." Her blue eyes are wide with concern, so he changes the subject, "I'm assuming your founding families will be going, since they fund the program."

Caroline nods, "Yes, James is attending, he's eager to see what I'm learning about."

He leans back and lets Caroline prattle on about her concerns with living up to her parents expectations, her husbands needs, and ultimately her future as Mrs. Lockwood. He wishes this didn't mean anything to him.

The days leading up to the New Year's eve party, were boring to say the least. Augustine perfected the amount of time to leave him starving, until he has the strength of a boy, but not yet desiccated. He fills his time with painting stories about Italy as he remembers, and then England through the eyes of a boy. He loves telling her about his time as a vampire, how he traveled and experience America.

Caroline is enthralled, always asking questions and then fantasizing about what it would be like to live there. He doesn't burst her bubble with his tales of hardship and starvation of a different kind.

He finds out that she hasn't left a 100 mile radius of where she was born, and realizes she intends on keeping it that way; he wonders why she thinks like that.

He then spends the 31rst of December telling her stories of his time in New York as a Vampire, about all the secrets the city holds, and the history written along the walls. She is sitting on the edge of her seat by the end of his story, her eyes are brimming with curiosity, and questions are poised on her pink lips.

Dr. Whitmore walks in at that moment, and takes in Caroline's body language, "What's so interesting?"

By then he is laying in his cage, as if nothing has changed from his starvation.

Caroline surprises him, she's quick with her response, "I just find it fascinating that he hasn't desiccated in the slightest, despite the lack of blood in the past few days, and the insufficient portions of blood he has had throughout the years."

"Yes, that took years to find the amount of time to keep the specimen between desiccation and the strength of a child," Whitmore begins to tells Caroline the process of testing this out, which she documents.

While he just sits in his cage and tunes it out, he already lived through some of these long drawn out experiments, he doesn't need to hear about them.

"If you have any more questions please let me know, otherwise I'll see you at the party in a few hours." Whitmore says, seemingly happy that he had a captive, quite literally in one case, audience to listen about his work.

Once he's gone, Caroline says, "I must be going, I have a party to get ready for."

He lets her go without a comment.

Tomorrow, January first, he will have his first sip of blood since Christmas Eve, and as much as it brings him shame, he's ecstatic to feel the blood flow down his throat. He spends the next few hours contemplating his existence in the way only a starving man can.

Paul and Billy pull him out of his stupor, they restrain him with little effort, he doesn't have it in him to fight, and drag him up countless flights of stairs to a room with a cage in it. The strong stench of vervain burns with every breath he takes the moment the door opens, coming from the 3ftx3ftx8ft cage he will spend the next 8 hours in that cage, standing with inches to spare between him and the drenched bars.

Paul and Billy take all of his restraints off, leaving a weak man in their wake. The room is soon emptied, the only thing keeping him company is the smell of that catered food and the clouds that block out the stars and moon.

Guests will be arriving soon, he can hear people mulling about around him, anticipation for the night builds in the building, and soon he is annoyed with it, ready for the guest to arrive so he can leave and start the year with new ways to feel pain.

The guests arrive in one large group, he finds amusement in their varied reactions. Few are open about their fear, most hide behind mock confidence, yet all give him a wide berth. Caroline, to his immense surprise, shows up late. What doesn't surprise him though, is the way her mere presence immediately becomes the center of attention. She's obvious to it all, her eyes are too busy searching for something, they land on him briefly with a soft smile before continuing their search.

Her bright blue eyes land on Whitmore, and she leans up to the man on her arm and whispers something in his ear. He's surprised by the man's presence, not noticing him until Caroline's attention changes. The man is tall, with neat black hair, bright brown eyes, and a naturally tan complexion. He is very stoic, despite his youth; Caroline never described her fiancé, but he knows it's him.

The couple makes their way to Whitmore, and some other colleagues, all the while he takes in Caroline. Around her fiancé Caroline's light is dim, something he thought had to do with her tardiness and embarrassment, but now realizes it's her future husbands fault.

The man sticks his hand out and shakes Whitmore's, "James Lockwood."

"Pleasure to meet you Mr. Lockwood, I'm Trevor Whitmore." Whitmore says before letting go.

The men exchange a few more pleasantries before joining the previous conversation. All the while, Caroline holds her drink with James' arm around her waist, making small comments when appropriate. This Caroline, the one around James, is the perfect wife; she's submissive, polite, quiet, and smart.

The Caroline he has come to know is confident, stubborn, passionate, sassy, and brilliant. It pains him to know that this will be her future if she is to marry James.

The night goes on, as it draws closer to midnight, Whitmore brings him out and parades him around. People are impressed by Whitmore's bravery, but they don't know that the vampire before them is starving and full of vervain, so much so, that he's surprised he hasn't lost consciousness yet.

The party ends an hour after midnight; Paul and Billy wait until the last guest leaves before returning him to his cell.

He lays there, dreading what 1952 holds.

 **A/N I can't really remember how the New Year's Eve party went, so I kind of made most of this up.**

 **Thank you all for reading this story this year, it really means the world to me.**

 **I hope you all have a wonderful 2017, I'll see you in the New Year.**

Loveklaroline: Thank you so much for a wonderful year, your reviews have become some of my favorite things to read. I always look forward to reading them when I post a new chapter. Thank you for your continued support for all of my stories, and encouraging me. I hope the wait for this one wasn't to long, the next one should be up sooner (I hope :D). The vampire's identity will be revealed soon, I'm not telling you when :) the anticipation is awesome! I hope the reveal isn't to disappointing though. I know I didn't fulfill your request in the way you wanted, I'd be more than happy to write another one if you want, you can even pick her love interest ;). Thank you for the wishes! Next year will be good, hopefully! I hope your holidays were spectacular, and this new year is the best one yet. Until next time!


	10. Chapter 10

Whitmore started this new year by going over some things that need more attention or reviewing, but now, four months in, Whitmore has moved on to new theories and experiments.

Today's torture was interesting to say the least. Whitmore spent the day removing peaces of his spine, sometimes he could feel everything, the pain an explosion in his mind, other times he felt nothing. In those times of nothing he screamed, he couldn't move, and panic filled his undead mind at his temporary paralysis.

The mere thought of living the rest of his eternity without movement, the only feelings coming from his mind, bring terror to his lungs. He screams out, begging in his native language for anything, even if it was just the feeling of pain. His physical pain is a temporary relief from his mental anguish, if he was left without it - he shutters at the thought.

He hears Whitmore talk to Caroline as Paul and Billy drag his limp body away from the room.

"The previous vampires always spoke to us, whether it be thinly veiled threats or to bargain for their freedom, they would not be quite. This subject was not captured by us, he was brought in by an outside source, and we never thought to ask about his capture. But now it all makes sense, he doesn't speak because he doesn't understand English." Whitmore rambles.

He almost scoffs; Whitmore is a man of logic and reason, always needing to know the answer to mysteries. He doesn't speak because he has nothing to say.

In this moment he is lying on his side, where Paul and Billy dropped him, feeling the pinpricks of healing as his body brings movement back to his limbs as relief floods through him.

Caroline takes the seat before him, he feels her watching his bare back, probably wondering things that would kill him with hope.

"How's the back doing?" Caroline asks, her voice laced with concern.

"Sometimes I reveal in the new experiments." He says.

She looks concerned, for his physical or mental health he's not sure, and leans forward, close enough that if he wanted he could reach out and touch her cheek, "Why?"

"It's hard to understand, angel." He whispers, closing his eyes to avoid looking at her face. He doesn't want to hope she will help; false hope kills, he should know he's had an eternity of them.

She takes a sharp breath at the word 'angel', "I'm not an angel, I watch them as the torture you. Not doing anything while they slice you open and smile at your pain."

He opens his eyes to gaze into hers, his brown eyes reveal all the pain he has seen throughout his eternity, "Sometimes all someone need is someone to be there, and you do that Angel."

The warmth of his eyes and his honesty shakes her to her core, making her question everything her parents have ever taught her about vampires. The simplicity of his raw statement makes her want to unlock the door, yet they never gave her the key.

He can see her train of thought from where he rests, and even though his back burns in agony he sits up and moves toward her, ignoring the way her pulse brings up the primal need for blood. He reaches through the bars and does something that makes her heart jump, he ghosts his fingers over her cheek, barley making contact but bringing up goosebumps along the path. He feels her apply slight pressure to his touch subconsciously, and moves his hand away not wanting her to be comfortable around him.

"Step back, they're coming." He whispers before moving back to his previous spot.

Caroline nods absentmindedly as she follows his instructions. She stands and steps out of reach, slowly realizing how she put her self in danger without thinking. She jots a few notes down about his healing process as Billy opens the door before Dr. Whitmore enters.

"How's the subject doing?" Dr. Whitmore asks.

Caroline bites her tongue and looks at her notes, scanning for the highlights before reading them, the doctor nods as he observes the subject laying on its side as its back heals.

"Good, go grab a cup of blood and observe how that affects him." Dr. Whitmore says before leaving.

Caroline moves to leave, she sends him a sympathetic smile before the door clicks behind her. Despite being here for a year, she still can't see him as a subject without any humanity. He wishes she would, then he wouldn't have anything to keep him from burning this building down.

He watches her walk out, and sighs in relief when the door clicks, the thought of blood has him becoming the monster everyone sees him as, everyone but her.

Caroline soon returns, and still admires his face even though she has seen this daily since starting, he's starting to think that he may have to help her gain a poker face, she wears her heart on her sleeve. She kneels next to the cage, much to close in his opinion and hands the cup to him. Different then most, she treats him as if he is human instead of an animal, the small things make him smile. Normally he waits until she sets it down, but today he grabs the cup from her. Their fingertips touch before he pulls it away, enjoying the way Caroline smiles at the small contact.

The relief is immediate, but the blood lust grows stronger, he knows he needs more to heal quickly and fully. She scribbles notes furiously, he watches as she bites the bottom of her lip as she does so. Unlike the doctors and handlers she is so full of emotion, it seeps out despite her control freak tendencies.

What feels like seconds later, but in reality must be hours, Caroline is looking at her wrist watch and sighing. "I must go, I have schoolwork due tomorrow morning." Her statement is followed by a yawn. He sees the bags under her eyes and the exhaustion in her shoulders.

She gathers her materials and turns the lights off, knowing he prefers darkness to the harsh, sterile light.

Before she leaves he says, "Enzo." He slinks into the darkness before she can look at him once more. Caroline sends him a bright smile despite not being able to see him, before closing the door, knowing he won't say anything else.

 **A/N I hope that doesn't seem rushed or weird, but it has been over a year. I'm sure Enzo isn't that big of a surprise, but if it did shock you please let me know! I think Enzo just wants to connect with someone, and he finally took a leap of faith to try and connect with Caroline, even though it will back fire.  
**

 **Also, Enzo mentioned Italy in his past, so I'm making the assumption that he speaks Italian. Unfortunately, I do not speak Italian, so Enzo will not be speaking Italian.**

 **Thanks for reading this far!**

 **Until next time!**

Loveklaroline- I always look forward to reading your reviews, they are wonderful! I hope the reveal wasn't too shocking, you did guess correctly in the beginning :) He's letting Caroline in a little more and it scares him, him opening up about his name is going to change a lot of things. And don't worry, she won't die James' wife :) I hope this chapter doesn't dissapoint, and if there's anything you would like to see, don't hesitate to ask! I wouldn't mind writing you another prompt, never worry about being pushy because you aren't! I'm glad your break was lovely, and I hope your year is fantastic! I recently started school so the updates will be sporadic and far apart. Thank you so much, have a lovely week! I'll update as soon as I have time! Until next time!


	11. Chapter 11

"Good morning, Enzo." His name past her lips causes a shiver that surprises him.

The small smile on her face, with her bottom lip between her teeth, reminds him of the decades between them. Sometimes she's so innocent he wonders how this life hasn't jaded her yet, then again there are times she is so wise he feels as if she has walked on this earth longer than him.

"Morning gorgeous." He greats with a smirk on his face.

Caroline takes her usual seat across from his cell and opens her notebooks, making notes here and there about things that are meaningless to him.

She begins to fidget more and more as time passes; he watches amused as she fiddles with her sleeve and pencil. It takes once more glance at the clock from her for him to say, "Spit it out."

Caroline looks up from her notes, a lock of golden hair falling in her face as she stares at him with curious blue eyes. She moves the stray stand as she says, "I've been here for 13 months, and you have never told me your name. Why now?"

Enzo moves from his position against the back wall to be closer to her, as he leans his head on the bars, "I wanted someone to remember me, someone to share my life. So when I die I'm more than just a number."

The vocalization of his death seems to dim her ever present light, "Your not going to die, they need you-"

He cuts her off, "Once they find what they are looking for they will end me."

Her sky eyes shine with disbelief, "I'm sure there's someone out there looking for you."

He shakes his head, breaking eye contact with her for a moment before sharing something that breaks him, "I was orphaned at four, and have spent every day since then fighting for my life. There wasn't much time to make friends, and those that I did have are long dead. Being a vampire was worse, I couldn't stay in one place too long before suspicion aroused."

He pauses allowing his words to sink in, "Don't forget me Caroline."

They come to take him away before she could say anything. The next hours are excruciating, Dr. Whitmore never seems to run out of new ways to bring pain to the forefront of him mind. By the time he is laying in his cell waiting for blood to heal him, he has all but forgot his earlier conversation.

It isn't until Caroline says, "I promise." that the memory floods to him, pushing the pain away.

"I promise I won't forget you Enzo." Caroline whispers. "You changed the way I see vampires, and you are helping bring forth a new medical era."

Enzo feels at peace, knowing his life wasn't a complete waste. He doesn't roll over to look at her, not wanting to see her sky eyes that make him want to give her his darkest parts.

The next few weeks are much lighter, filled with conversation about her schooling and his light jabs at her fiancé.

One day he asks, "How does sunshine feel?"

"Hmm?" She asks as she scribbles something down.

He is laying on his back staring at the top of his cell, imagining he can see the sun, "How does the sunshine feel? How does it smell? how does it taste?" He closes his brown eyes

He feels Caroline's blue eyes bore holes into his skull, as if she's examining him to see if he's sane. He's not.

"It's bright." Caroline simply states.

Enzo shifts as he opens his eyes to look at her, "I'm a deprived man, I haven't seen the sun in many lifetimes, please remind me of what it's like." He closes his eyes once more.

He hears her swallow before she says, "It feels wonderful. There's nothing like waking up to the warmth of the sun, nor allowing the warmth lull you to sleep. It brings safety and peace with it. Every morning is a fresh start, leaving the wrongs of the day before behind and bringing a new chance."

He opens his brown eyes to look at her, and he's glad he did, she is wearing a wistful smile on her face as she stare off at nothing. "I love going home and sitting on the porch, allowing the warmth to seep into my bones and take away the days pains."

She pauses, as if contemplating the next thought before perfecting it, "It tastes like long summers spent outside, like cool lemonade and the spray of the ocean. And it's smell, it's smell is - well it's indescribable."

Caroline notices his gaze after finishing her description, her cheeks are soon painted pink.

Before she could say anything, or come up with some excuse for going off like that he says, "Thank you."

They go back to their usual dynamic after that, avoiding the heavy stuff and enjoying their banter.

As she moves to leave that night he says, "Enjoy the sunshine, gorgeous."

She looks over her shoulder, blonde hair cascading down her back, "I wish I could bring some back to you."

"You already do." He says.

Caroline Forbes is speechless in a rare moment, and in that moment he realizes what he's been avoiding for months, he loves her. She walks out a second later, the lock can be heard as her heels click against the ground.

Enzo Loves her.

What comes next brings more pain than Whitmore could ever afflict.

He needs to let her go.

 **A/N I'm so sorry for the late update, life has been crazy. Unfortunately, it still is crazy, so the next update might be awhile. If this seems rushed or a little weird, please let me know.  
**

 **Thank you to everyone reading this.**

 **Goodbye The Vampire Diaries, you have been apart of my life for so long and will be missed, but thank you for a wonderful story.**

 **Until next time!**

Loveklaroline- thank you so much for all of your support, it is truly appreciated. I hope you enjoy this, and I will be looking forward to your review. Your story is outlined, now I just need to sit down and write it when I find time. Until next time :D


	12. Chapter 12

"Good morning!" Caroline greets with her usual bubbly demeanor.

He enjoys their usual morning routine one last time, pushing his intention away to not tarnish these moments.

She talks about her upcoming assignment on The Sun Also Rises.

"Hmm, I haven't read that." Enzo comments.

Caroline dives into an overview, adding comments throughout. He tries to pay attention, but he watches her instead. He wants to remember everything about her, from the way her blue eyes shine with happiness to the way her hair falls perfectly over her shoulder. He smiles as she begins to talk with her hands, as if trying to mold her ideas together. She pauses briefly, biting her bottom lip as she tries to recall something.

She chooses that moment to notice that he isn't present in the conversation. "Are you okay?" She asks, concern evident in her voice as her sky eyes search his face.

"Yes, gorgeous, just enjoying your summary." He says.

She doesn't believe him, he can tell by the slight pause in conversation and tension in her shoulders, but she respects his privacy and says, "I can bring it to you if you want?"

"I would love that." He replies, truly honest about the statement even if it can't happen.

Caroline finishes her summary, all the while she keeps taking him in as if to figure out what's wrong with him.

Billy and Paul couldn't come in soon enough, if Caroline didn't stop worrying about him he was eventually going to break.

Whitmore uses poison today, he doesn't quite know what it is, but it's enough to kill a man. Too bad he's not a man.

At first Whitmore forces him to ingest it, which isn't too bad, aside from the painful expulsion of the poison, his bile is a mix of the small cup of blood last night and the thick black poison. After a couple of trials of this, Whitmore decides to inject the poison into various areas on his body, starting with his heart. It does the trick and stops his heart, but doesn't kill him, he just lies there as the poison is forcefully removed from his body. It's a combination of vomiting and the injection site oozing poison. It isn't a pretty sight, nor smell, but it does the trick. Eventually this too bores Whitmore, and he starts to test his ability to heal with poison in his body. It doesn't do much to slow or hinder his body's magical ability to heal, but it feels awful. All the while, Paul, Billy, and Caroline look on with disgusted looks on their face.

He breathes a sigh of relief when Billy and Paul drop his body on the floor. It hurts, but the outer pain is so much better than when his body is attacked from the inside.

Caroline walks in moments later with a small dose of blood, which he almost wants to refuse due to how raw his throat is. Yet, his body begs for the immediate relief it will bring as his face changes on it's own.

She begins her light chatter as the blood makes it's way throughout his body, just enough to heal but not to satisfy.

Today has been long and hard, he would like nothing more that to let Caroline's ramblings wash over him as his body heals. Unfortunately, he must stop her, "Caroline." his voice is low but commanding and Caroline's jaw shuts with an audible click.

She raises an eyebrow, prompting him to continue. He starts with a sigh and the smile that seems to always be on her face slowly disappears, "You must leave."

"What?" She asks, her voice full of confusion.

Enzo sits up, gazing into her eyes, hoping he get his message across without to much resistance, "You are truly passionate about your life, and this place, with these people, are slowly crushing you. Your love and duty to your family blinds you to this. Let me help you."

Her blue eyes shine with denial, but her mouth says otherwise.

"Okay." Her simple statement is powerful, giving him complete control and opening his eyes to the level of her trust in him.

Tears fall elegantly down her face as she nods, knowing what this means but not really having a choice as his eyes expand taking away any and all free will; her trust in him makes it all the more easy for him to have her mind open for his manipulation even in his weakened state. Caroline takes a hand and wipes the tears away as she walks toward him, dangerously close.

Enzo tilts his head, listening for intruders before reaching though the bars to hold her face, her hands come up to cover his, shocked by the open touch. The monster in him wants to drink every last drop of blood, the man in him wants to set her free, the man that she saw from the very beginning.

Enzo smiles, showing too much teeth, "It will be painless." He lies, it will shatter whatever remains of his heart.

Caroline nods, her soft locks tickling Enzo's hands as she removes her own.

Enzo holds her face between his hands, enjoying their last moment, rubbing small circles on her cheek with his thumbs before saying the words that will send her away. "Caroline," he breaths, steadying his heartbeat so he can will her to do what she needs, "follow you passions, don't let anyone dim your light, be happy, and forget every stolen conversation we ever shared. Leave tonight, and never look back."

He pauses, knowing the last part will leave him alone with their past, "You will only remember the vampire your parents sent you here to study, nothing more." He effectively breaks her promise.

He adds one more, though he's not sure if it will work, "No other vampire can compel you besides myself."

If Enzo though having open heart surgery was torture, or drowning to the point of death over and over again was horrid, losing her has left deep ravines on his soul that will heal into scars he will forever carry.

He enjoy the last moment of contact before letting her face go as her sky eyes flutter shut, knowing full well when they open she won't remember him through their memories and shared stories, but she will remember him as the subject her father sent her here to study, as a monster.

"Good bye Caroline." He says, giving her one last gaze of openness before closing off.

Her breath hitches at the sound of her name, "Good bye," She trails off. His name is a whisper on her lips, but for the life of her she can't remember it, her lips part with the need for closure but she doesn't know what to say, he can read it on her face, for he can't compel her away from him.

Enzo lets his dark eyes move to the door, and Caroline's gaze follows. She sighs before gathering her stuff and moving to leave, she lingers at the door, he can see her thoughts moving around filling in the holes he made. He steps back into the darkness, hoping she doesn't give one more look, he doesn't know if he has the will power to keep him from removing her compulsion if her blue eyes search for him. She does look over her shoulder, but she does not look for him, he can see her eyes searching for the pieces only he carries.

Then the door shuts, and he's back to his loneliness.

 **A/N I'm sorry for the late update, and future delayed updates, life is just crazy. I do hope you guys haven't given up, and I appreciate you for sticking around.**

Loveklaroline: I'm so sorry I haven't updated, I'm awful at that. Thank you so much for all of you reviews, they are wonderful and truly do motivate me to write. I'm sorry to worry you, and I'll try to be better at updating in the future. I'm not sure if I would be writing this if it weren't for your reviews. I truly appreciate everyone of them, and reread them to help me stay motivated. I'm working on a little one shot for you, and it involves Caroline ;) Have a lovely day!

Guest: Thank you so much for your review! I hope you enjoyed this.

 **p.s. This is poorly edited, so if there are any glaring errors please let me know. Don't be afraid to nitpick, I'm always trying to improve!**


	13. 1953

He doesn't know how long Caroline's been gone, but the time has done nothing to soothe his bleeding soul. He's never felt more alone, which he finds sadistically funny, since he's been alone for most of his life. She gave him a connection, and he never knew how much he needed one until it was gone. He's losing his will to hold on, before Caroline the only thing that kept his emotions on were hate and thoughts of revenge, but after Caroline those things don't seem like enough. The days have been dragging, even the experiments aren't able to take his mind off of the hole in his chest.

A cry of pain snaps him out of his self musings, and peaks his interest. The only screams of agony that bounce off these walls are his own, so he is surprised to hear another voice. He doesn't recognize the voice, not that he thinks Whitmore would strap Billy or Paul down and begin to cut them open. He begins to get an inkling of what Caroline felt every time she had to watch him get cut open, hear his cries of pain.

After a while listening to the effects of pain, Enzo begins to realize that they aren't coming for him. He is hesitant to relax, still ready for his usual routine. Enzo braces himself on the bars, closing his eyes and listening to the other vampire. He hasn't seen one since he was turned, it wasn't until after he turned that he realized what she was. Enzo shakes his head out of that thought, focusing on the other vampire. It sounds like a male, and he seems to enjoy swearing at Whitmore, which makes Enzo chuckle.

Eventually Enzo leans against the back wall, resting his head and keeping his eyes shut, at least the pain from the experiments gives him a small reprieve from his inner demons. But now, with nothing but his thoughts and the screams of pain from another, it seems to be worse. He feels like he has to fight against the loneliness threatening to drown him until there's nothing left.

His treacherous brain reminds him that this could be his last day, if they think the other vampire is going to help them reach their end goal sooner. If that happens, he will never get to see another sun rise or sun set, he wont get to watch the stars, drink bourbon, wont get to see how the world's changed, nor say thank you. Enzo pushes those thoughts away as he hears the lock click.

Enzo opens his brown eyes, but doesn't move, he just watches as Paul and Billy drag another form into the room. Paul and Billy drop him in the cell next to Enzo and they lock the door on their way out.

"Welcome." Enzo greets.

"Dr. Whitmore never gets tired of watching his vampires heal. He gives us one glass of blood per day, just enough to keep us alive. Pick yourself up solider." Enzo gives him a brief summary.

He then introduces him self, "My name's Enzo."

The man takes his hand, he can see the strength in his crystal clear blue eyes, "Damon."

Maybe he won't be alone after all. Enzo hates himself the moment he thinks it.

 **A/N the last few lines of dialogue are from the show. I'm sorry for such a short chapter, don't worry the next one's longer.**

 **I was in a rush to post this, so I only looked it over once. If there are any errors please let me know.**

Loveklaroline: I do read your ideas, but I can't comment on them without giving away huge spoilers :) The one shot has hit a road block, but don't worry I'm working though it. I hope you enjoy this chapter! I'm really excited to bring Damon in, he's one of my favorites. I do have a hard time writing him, so please let me know how I did. Thank you for all of your support, I probably would have gave up ages ago.


	14. 1954

"It's the last day before the new year." Enzo announces.

Damon shifts to see Enzo's foot, "How do you know?"

Enzo tilts his head in Damon's direction, not that Damon can see him, "They, Whitmore and Paul, are talking about tonight's plans."

Damon pushes his brows together, "How do you hear that? I can barely hear Robert's snores from the other side of the door."

Enzo shrugs, turning to the door, "Years of practice."

"You're going to have to show me your secrets later," Enzo lets out a soft chuckle, "but right now, can you walk me through tonight one more time." Damon says as he stands, leaning against the bars.

Enzo nods, "They are going to pump us with enough vervain that we'll be docile, but not so much that we pass out. The burning will be worse than you've ever experienced, which will keep your attention divided, decreasing the chance of escape. Then they will drag you up to the third floor, where you will be placed in a small cell that is drenched in vervain. The guest will mingle, and before the clock strikes midnight, Whitmore will take the vampire out to show everyone." Enzo explains.

"There's got to be a way to escape." Damon says.

"Trust me, I've tried. We're to weak from the combination vervain and lack of blood. Not to mention, everyone in that room will know our weaknesses." Enzo sighs.

Damon shakes his head, "You said the founding families will be there, maybe Stefan will show up." Damon's voice is full of so much hope, it almost makes Enzo hope too, but he can't. Stefan won't be there.

"You should get some rest." Enzo advises, before laying down himself. He doesn't want to argue with Damon, even though he suspects Stefan doesn't notice his brother's absence.

Hours later Billy and Paul walk in, with the restraints and vervain.

"I don't think this is a good idea." Billy says, "Having two just increases the odds of something bad happening."

Paul shrugs as he loads his gun, "It's what Dr. Whitmore wants. Plus they will be so full of vervain they won't know what's happening."

"Let's move him first, he has a lower tolerance to vervain." Billy suggests.

Paul nods, and soon Damon is on the ground, unconscious. "Whitmore is going to kill us." Billy says, panic filling his voice.

Paul kicks Damon, "He'll probably wake up before the guest arrive."

"He better, Whitmore wants to show his new toy around." Billy says.

The men make quick work of the restrains and soon Enzo is alone. He listens for as long as he can, making a mental map of where they are going. He loses them, but not for long. They are back, and get him ready. He doesn't make a noise as the vervain enters his blood stream, nor when it moves as his heart beats. Billy doesn't seem to be happy by this, and gives him another does for good measure. This time a hiss escapes his lips before he could stop it.

Enzo is slightly surprised that he and Damon will get to share a cell, and how they made it slightly bigger. But this is the first time they get to see each other without restraints. Paul and Billy leave them to get ready for the party.

Enzo kneels next to Damon and pokes his shoulder, he's still out from the vervain. Enzo watches the clock, and about twenty minutes later Damon wakes up.

"Good, I thought you would miss all the fun." Enzo says.

Damon sits up, "I wish I would." He grumbles. "I thought you said we wouldn't be knocked unconscious." As he tries to rub the pain from his head.

Billy walks in before Enzo can respond. The moment his eyes land on Damon he lets out a sigh of relief, "He's awake!"

"Shut up, the guests will be here soon." Paul warns.

The guests arrive moments later, and Enzo can't help but search everyone that walks in, but she doesn't show. Which is good, she isn't stuck anymore, but he's still disappointed. James doesn't show either, Enzo notes. Enzo's not the only one searching the crowd, Damon looks at everyone, hoping his brother will walk in.

Damon's mood worsens throughout the night, Enzo assumes that means Stefan didn't show. The guest's on the other hand, are thrilled, there are now two vampires to research. The anticipation in the room builds as the clock ticks, even Whitmore seems excited.

He must be, Enzo concludes, because he starts his speech about the future of humanity, and how they will bring a new medical era, all things Enzo's heard before. Damon on the other hand, listens to every word, and becomes angrier as the speech drones on. Enzo wants to warn Damon, to stop him, but he can't as Whitmore takes Damon out and shuts the door behind him.

Whitmore continues his speech, completely oblivious to the anger Damon is feeling. Enzo sees what's about to happen. Damon's leaning close to Whitmore, while Whitmore faces the audience, Paul and Billy seem to pick up on it, and quickly alert Whitmore, while leaving the audience none the wiser. Damon sees what's happening as Whitmore moves toward the cage, but he can't do anything, knowing that Whitmore has the upper hand. Damon sighs as he is placed in the cage, his opportunity gone as the clock strikes midnight. Both of them know this will lead to repercussions tomorrow, which happens to be Enzo's turn. Enzo can see the apology in Damon's eyes, but he waves him off, not wanting him to feel guilty.

"Welcome to 1954." Enzo mumbles.

 **A/N I hope you guys enjoyed this. Please let me know if there is anything you would like to see!**


	15. 1955

"I want to meet his brother of yours." Enzo says one night, interrupting one of Damon's revenge plans.

"Why?" Damon asks.

"So I can ask him how he puts up with you." Enzo retorts.

Damon lets out a slight laugh, "He doesn't. we spend decades without seeing each other."

"Then why do you think he is going to find you?" Enzo asks.

Damon pauses, "Did I ever tell you how I turned?"

"No, you just said it was a girl, Katherine." Enzo says.

Damon sighs, "She was beautiful, with a dark personality to match. She pitted my brother and I against one another, saying she couldn't choose."

"Sounds like a wonderful person." Enzo remarks.

He can practically feel Damon rolling his eyes, "She is, she introduced me to this new world and promised to make me apart of it. She fed me her blood, promising to turn me, she never said anything about Stefan though."

Enzo stays silent, despite his questions.

"It's a long story, but one night my father and the town went vampire hunting, when he discovered she was a vampire. Stefan and I tried to save her, but we couldn't, and our father shot us." Damon says, wincing slightly at the last act of betrayal his father committed.

"Stefan turned, then convinced me to turn, saying he couldn't live an eternity without his brother. I promised him an eternity of misery." Damon says. "He is a terrible vampire, he goes through periods without emotion, and it makes him into a ruthless killer. When he's like that, the only thing on his mind is blood. We haven't talked in a while, he is probably on one of his rampages. But Lexi, his best friend, will help him. She always does." Damon finishes. He sounds so sure, Enzo knows it must kill him as time goes by, proving him wrong.

"I'm sorry to say this, but that sounds like an excuse to ignore what's going on around you." Enzo says.

Damon sighs, "It takes a while, but he will come. Even though we don't always get along, he's still always there when I need him."

Enzo doesn't want to crush Damon's hope, so he just says, "We'll be long gone by then."

Damon smiles slightly, "What about you, how did you turn?"

"I was dying of consumption, trying to get on a boat to America that had this doctor that supposedly could cure it. They wouldn't let me on, but this woman convinced them, later I knew it was compulsion. I died, and woke up alone on a boat. Everyone was dead, and the woman no where to be seen. The doctor was the last living person, but he was barely breathing. I finished him off, and then left the boat. I didn't even know vampires existed. After five years of figuring it out I met a witch, her name was Maggie. She was kind, and helped me out. She gave me a daylight ring, and taught me the basics of this new supernatural world I entered, and even tried to help me find a cure for my new state. I spent a year with her, but then I soon learned the other witches weren't so welcoming of vampires. I left her behind, knowing it was the only way she would have a normal life." Enzo finishes.

"Is she the reason you haven't turned it off?" Damon asks, he sounds hesitant, like he over stepped.

Enzo almost laughs, they have been cellmates for years, listing to the screams of pain from each other, and Damon's afraid to ask a question. It's almost out of character, but these two always try to respect one another even when everyone else treats them worse than animals. "No. We ended on good terms." Enzo says.

"I thought you said you left her behind." Damon sounds confused.

"I did, but I didn't leave in the middle of the night. I explained to her why I was leaving. She reluctantly agreed, and helped me leave without risk of being caught by the other witches." Enzo smiles, "I came by decades later, for her birthday. She was surrounded by loved ones, her husband, children, and grandchildren, I don't think I ever saw her happier than she was in that moment. I waited until everyone left before knocking on her door, wished her happy birthday and thanking her for helping me when I had no one. I left on good terms, and she lived a live well lived." Enzo says, reminiscing about his old freind.

"She's not the one that brings me hope." Enzo pauses, thinking about a certain blonde.

Damon is interested now, while he talks about his brother all the time and Katherine, Enzo never talks about anyone besides the people who torture them everyday. "Why haven't you turned it off yet?" Damon asks, curious, after all he has done it before.

Enzo sighs, "Hate and revenge fueled me for years, but it began to taper. I wanted to end it all, but then it felt like they would win."

"Your too stubborn for that." Damon interjects.

"Maybe." Enzo agrees with a chuckle, "But then someone looked at me and saw the man I've always wanted to be." Enzo says.

Damon rolls his eyes, "It's not Dr. Whitemore, so who was it?"

"She left before you came, sent here by her parents to study vampires. She never treated me like a monster, she showed me kindness and compassion. Not to mention she was gorgeous, with long legs, and golden locks. She gave me something that I never had before, not even with Maggie, acceptance." Enzo tries to explain Caroline, but it seems impossible.

Damon is impressed, he's never had that before, "Why did she leave?"

Enzo sighs, "I compelled her, there was no need for her to ruin her life here."

"Why does she give you hope?" Damon doesn't quite get it.

"She brought light, and showed me that people are worth saving. I just want to say 'Thank you, Caroline'." Enzo says.

 **A/N I hope this doesn't seem to out of character, I wanted to show how close Damon and Enzo are. They've been together for years at this point.** **I also wanted to include Maggie, since she was a very important person in Enzo's life.**

 **Until next time!**


	16. 1956

Enzo sighs, knowing he lost based off of Damon's reaction, he pulls his hand back without looking. Staying true to his work Enzo slides his cup of blood over to Damon ignoring the dull ache of today's earlier events.

"Enzo," Damon starts.

Enzo lets out a calming breath, he doesn't want Damon to know how much it hurts to give up something that will give him relief, "It's fine. But when we get out, I want a bourbon for this."

Damon laughs at that, "Deal." Damon breaths before drowning both cups as quickly as possible.

There's no turning back now, Enzo thinks, knowing this might be their only chance.

The first few months are hard, Enzo slowly deteriorates, it gets to the point where his body stops healing and he starts to desiccate. Enzo snorts at this, all these years of torture extended his body's ability to survive, but in the end even the magic that keeps him alive isn't enough. He's honestly quite surprised he hasn't desiccated sooner.

Damon seems worried, "Maybe you should have it tonight."

Enzo shakes his head as he slides the cup through the bars, "No, we need to get out of here. I want to ask your brother what took him so long."

Damon gives him a half smile before drowning both cups and giving an empty one back to Enzo. Enzo throws it against the wall, enjoying the sound of glass shattering, before settling down for the night. He ignores the way his blood leaves the bullet holes that don't close.

Whitemore notices his grayish colour the next morning, "Paul, Billy." They get there as fast as humanly possible.

Paul looks mildly disgusted with Enzo's state, while Billy seems to expect it. "I guess it's body could only take so much, before it gave up. The subject has been slower to heal in these past months, and less defiant." Billy rationalizes.

Paul nods in agreement.

"Restrain it, and put it on the table." Whitemore instructs.

Enzo's brown eyes widen slightly in confusion, it was his turn yesterday, they should be taking Damon today. Billy and Paul seem confused as well, but they don't ask questions.

Whitemore leaves the room as Enzo gets shot up with vervain. Damon seems ready to do something, but a look from Enzo stops him. They haven't come this far for their plan to be discovered.

Enzo looks back at Damon, hoping that he can still escape this place. Enzo walks with his head held high, even if he's marching to death, he won't give them the satisfaction of seeing him cower in fear. Instead, Whitemore spends the day bleeding him dry and filling him up with blood until he finds the perfect balance between weak but alive. Apparently he's worth more to them alive than dead.

Damon seems relieved when they bring Enzo back, his skin has returned to it's normal colour.

Both vampires seem to benefit as well, each receiving slightly more blood. Damon and Enzo make a new arrangement, where Enzo drinks an ounce before giving the rest to Damon. Enzo finds it incredibly hard to not drink all of it, especially when it's his turn on the table. He does in anyway, knowing that he can't desiccate without Whitemore suspecting something. Every now and then, when he's feeling weak, he skips blood altogether, not wanting to sabotage their plan.

Damon tries to keep his hopes up by listing all the things they will do once they leave this place. It helps, but sometimes it feels like a fools dream.

Today's session was exceptionally painful, and all Enzo wants to do is suck every human on this floor dry, unfortunately he can't do that. Moments after that thought Paul walks in with two cups, Enzo is by the bars as soon as the smell hits him. Paul jumps slightly, not expecting that reaction, he shakes it off and puts a cup in front of each of their cells and slides the cups closer while remaining a safe distance. He then leaves them, seeming a little unsettled. Enzo listens to him sit outside the door as he complains to Billy about some bills he has to pay.

Enzo takes a sip before sliding the rest to Damon, he feels the relief immediately, but he is still in pain. If anything, the small amount just made him hungrier. He lays on the ground, waiting for Damon to finish.

"If it doesn't work, things will get much worse." Enzo muses as he stares at the ceiling.

"Stefan will come if it doesn't work." Damon sounds so sure, it pains Enzo to think of the disappointment Damon will feel when he learns that Stefan wasn't looking for him.

Enzo sighs, he's already too invested in this plan, knowing that the potential failure of it will ruin any hope of future escape, even if Stefan is looking for them. Enzo wants to ask how many more days will he have to starve before the party, knowing that Damon has scratched everyday into the wall, but only knowing will make him even hungrier.

Damon begins to list off the things he's going to do to enact his revenge when they get out, starting with Whitmore's wife. Enzo listens, pretending it will be true, because it helps keep his mind at bay. Enzo is mildly surprised that Damon threatens to do this to his brother to get back at him for leaving them here so long.

"I'm going to leave bodies for him to find, tearing into them like he does." Damon sounds vengeful.

Enzo lets out a dry laugh, he knows that Damon's on the verge of losing hope.

 **A/N I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Until next time!  
**

Loveklaroline: I hope you exams are going well! I'm glad you enjoyed the last three chapters, and I hope you enjoyed this one! I can't answer your questions, but time will tell :) Every time I get one of your reviews I smile, so thank you for being wonderful! I'm glad you enjoyed your one shot, I was originally going to do Klaus instead of Tyler, but Tyler and Caroline have always had a dangerous relationship despite their love for each other. Have a lovely day! Until next week ;)


	17. 1957

Enzo doesn't want to get his hopes up, but he's been here for about 13 years and this is the closest he's ever got to freedom. He stands, despite the weakness in his legs from lack of nutrition. He needs to get his energy out, knowing that it may lead to suspicion. He also want's to take his mind off of hope, knowing how much worse things will be if they fail. Not to mention, it will really slash his morale. He clenches his fist, contemplating the increased security and precaution. The selfish part reminds him he won't be alone to suffer an eternity of pain, Damon will be there, he won't be alone. He quickly pushes the thought away. He wouldn't wish this existence on anyone, except Whitmore.

"Enzo," a groggy Damon complains, "you're making it really hard to sleep."

Enzo unclenches his fists, "Trying not to get my hopes up." Enzo mutters, not really wanting to bother Damon but wanting something; whether it be comfort from the gravity of the situation or reality, he doesn't know.

Damon sits up from his uncomfortable position on the floor as he rubs sleep away from his face. There's a brick wall separating the two from sight, but Enzo can hear him shuffling over to their adjoined wall. Enzo settles down against the wall, ready for Damon's sarcasm.

Instead, Damon changes things up and is genuine, "I know there are a thousand things that can go wrong, leading to our death or an eternity of this, but there's a chance things can go right. Who knows, maybe by this time tomorrow you will be thanking Caroline, and I will be drinking bourbon while plotting how I will give Stefan hell for leaving me here." He can practically see Damon's face turn into a smirk, "Plus my plans are great, you should give me more credit."

Enzo rolls his eyes. After a couple endless minutes Damon is back asleep, slumped against the wall. Enzo knows he should sleep too, he will need all his strength tonight. He leans back and closes his eyes, listening for the familiar click of heels and sent of strawberries, vanilla, and sunshine. All he gets is the steady breath of a Damon, the snores of Robert, and the musty smell the place has.

Paul and Billy come in long after Damon wakes, and Damon is soon out like a light with the amount of vervain pumped into him. They drag Damon to the cage upstairs, leaving Enzo to listen until he can hear no more.

They are soon back, and give him the same dose, unlike Damon he doesn't lose consciousness. Enzo enjoys the ride up, it's a change of scenery, and he gets to stare out the window all night, watching the world go by. Once they arrive at the venue, Enzo zones in on Damon, finding him unconscious in the cell they will have to share for the foreseeable hours. It's already dark outside, so Enzo doesn't get to see the sun, but he does get to see the stars; they bring an immense amount of anticipation.

Damon's ready to go by the time the guests arrive. As the guests filter in, Enzo subconsciously looks for James Lockwood, and his gorgeous wife, yet neither appear, just like the last four years. He doesn't really notice he is doing it until Damon elbows him in the ribs. Enzo shakes his head, focusing on the task at hand.

After a few hours of mingling, Whitemore gathers everyone's attention, ready to show everyone his work. Damon has placed himself by the door of the cage, while Enzo is near the back. Whitemore grabs Damon, and locks the door behind him. Enzo watches on as the crowd becomes nervous but excited, most of them are privileged enough to have people protect them from monsters.

Enzo ignores Whitmore's speech, instead watching Damon, waiting for him to make his move. Damon breaks his thumbs, allowing him to slide his hands out of the cuffs, the rooms just watches in shock, waiting for the next move. When Damon grabs Whitmore, the room is filled with panic, Enzo can practically taste the blood.

Damon only takes enough to make Whitemore lose consciousness, then he takes bites out of all the other guests. The room is up in flames by the time everyone is laying on the ground, few are still alive, Enzo knows they are for him.

"Damon." He calls, snapping Damon out of his frenzy. Damon searches Whitemore for the keys, swearing under his breath when he can't find them.

Enzo rattles the bars, before pulling back from the burn of the plant. The fire is getting dangerously close. Damon tries to help, but the vervain is too strong, and the fire is causing them to cough.

Damon slowly backs away, and Enzo can see what he's about to do before he can. "Damon, no." Enzo pleads, as he pulls on the bars, ignoring the burn, unfortunately he's not strong enough.

"I'm sorry, Enzo." Damon whispers, and Enzo can see how genuine he is, which hurts more. Damon closes his eyes, and opens them. Nothing's left as Damon stares at his friend one last time before using his speed to get away.

"Damon!" Enzo yells in frustration as he pulls on the bars with all his strength. He's too depleted for it to do any good, not having blood on top of the experiments. He knows it's no use, but he can't help but try in his desperation to escape. He finally gives up, when the coughing becomes too much to bare.

He can't help but feel betrayed, his friend and only companion for the past five years, the man he gave his sustenance to for a year. And yet, he feels relived at the same time. Relieved that his friend escaped this fate, and can go find his brother. Relived that he finally gets to meet his maker. He slumps against the bars, not caring for the burn of the vervain. He coughs violently for a few moments, and wipes the black from his face with his sleeve, the sleeve of the shirt Caroline gave him.

Enzo sighs, knowing smoke ventilation will get him soon, and the fire will finish the job. His only regret was not letting Caroline know how much she helped him, how she saved him. He just hopes she grew to be the beautiful, confident girl he saw glimpses of. "Thank you Caroline Forbes." He closes his eyes as his body fights the smoke, slowly losing his grip on life, for the last time.

 **A/N I can't remember how it all went down, so I just made it up. I hope you guys enjoyed it!**

 **Thank you so much for reading!**

Loveklaroline - Thank you for your support, I love every one of your reviews! And they help me stay motivated! How did your exam go? I hope you enjoyed this!

 **Until next time!**


	18. 1958

He hears her take a deep breath before she moves in for the kill. Damon sighs, grabbing the blonde girl before the stake could get anywhere near him, twisting her wrist and getting a a hiss in response. He hears her heart rate increase, and thinks she must be the worst vampire hunter he's ever come across.

"I'll take this." He says as he plucks the stake from her hand and pulls her to his chest as he smells her neck. "This is easy." he rips her necklace off, and looks her in the eye. "Who sent you?"

She spits in his face as tries to she wriggle free. Damon wipes the saliva from his face and turns her around to hold her at arms length, "Why can't I compel you?"

The girls blue eyes flicker down to her necklace before coming back up to her face, for once she's completely still, "Your my first k-" her voice is hushed.

"The first ever vampire you've ever come across?" Damon lets out a humorless laugh.

She shakes her head, blonde curls swirling around her face, "No, I've meet one before, it's just fuzzy when I think-"

Damon's grip tightens a little, "Compulsion then." He says.

Her eyes widen, but before she can process he shoves something in her face and she is forces to swallow or die. As soon as the liquid is down, death is upon her with the sound of a crack. Damon picks her up bridal style, after he grabs the stake and her necklace.

The girl wakes up passed out in the back of the cab, she sits up and looks around. She's in a secluded alleyway, with a sleeping driver, and a vampire playing with her stake as he sits on the hood of the car.

"The cab was easy to hail, he probably assuming we were a couple that had a little too much to drink. Now, I'm going to need you to drink that." Damon says, as his eyes move from the stake to the driver's neck.

Her eyes snap to his before following his gaze to the drivers bleeding neck. "No!" She says as she pushes herself far back into the seat.

Damon slides off the hood and makes his way to the open door, "Your in transition, if you don't drink that you'll die."

"If I do?" Her voice is filled with disgust.

He shrugs as he fiddles with her stake, "You become a vampire. Don't worry, I'll kill you after I find out who sent you."

He sees the hesitation and loathing, and sighs knowing this wont be easy. He leans in the cab and pushes her face against the man's neck, knowing her instincts will kick in. Not a moment later does he hear her drinking, which doesn't surprise him. What happens next does.

The girl pushes her head back, with her new found strength, and causes Damon to let go. At first he thinks it's her reaction to her transition, but upon closer inspections it's her compulsion being released.

She holds her head in anguish as blood makes it's way down her face, which now contains fangs. Her eyes are closed as tears leak out. He is mildly shocked by the amount of time it takes for her to gain her memories; this compulsion must have gone on for a long time.

She gains control within minutes, not even disturbed by the bleeding body, "Enzo." Her voice is so soft humans would miss it.

Despite his emotions being off, Damon still feels a slight twinge at his owls cell mates name. The man he left behind.

Her face is back to it's human state, if it weren't for the blood on her face she would look normal. "Enzo, he compelled me to forget and live a happy life. Fourteen and a half months, vanished."

Her blue eyes lock with his, they are full of questions as his brain pieces the information together. "I watched him get cut open every day, and he took that away from him, instead choosing to carry his pain alone."

The realization hits him like a ton of bricks. "He wasn't alone." Damon intersects.

Her eyes widen, "You were with him? I know where he is, we should free him!" Her excitement is slowly killing him as the switch inches closer to on.

"Caroline." He says, as it all clicks together. This is the girl Enzo was talking about, and he didn't lie, she is gorgeous and impressive. A baby vamp with a bleeding man next to her, and yet she shows so much control.

Caroline doesn't seem to hear him. "But first." She says to him before diverting her attention to the cab driver, "We need to get him to a hospital."

Damon rolls his eyes, he just bites into his wrist and forces blood down his throat. Caroline watches in awe as the man's skin stitches back together a color returns to his face. She looks down at her wrist in amazement, "So this is the key."

Damon opens his mouth to deliver the news, "Ca-"

"Why won't he wake up?" She asks worriedly.

Damon pulls her out of the car before going to the man and lifts his compulsion, "Forget about this night." The man drives off, leaving the two alone.

"We can sneak in tonight, Robert is always asleep, and just steal the keys-" her enthusiasm is contagious.

He swallows hard, struggling to keep it in control, "Enzo, is dead."

Her brows are pushed together, "What?"

Damon looks away, hating himself, "I left him to die."

He chances a look at Caroline's face, and regrets it, she is seemingly frozen in disbelief, shock, hatred, love, and grief as tears silently fall down her face. He lets the stake rattle at her feet as he goes off into the night, knowing he ruined her life in more ways than he could count.

 **A/N I hope you like the Damon/Caroline meeting. I wanted Damon to be her sire, like on the show, and I wanted to show his humanity (Even if he likes to pretend he doesn't have one). I hope you guys enjoyed.**

 **Until next time!**

Loveklaroline - Your English is a million times better than my French. All I can say is "Hello" and "Hi, my name is...", I don't even know how to write either of those. I am updating my other stories, it's just a very slow process between school and my writers block. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, Caroline was in it (: Where I live most people are in school for 13 years, from age 5-18, and some go off to get a college degree. there are exams here too, but those happen at the end of the school year. I hope that answers your question. I hope the rest of your exam goes well!


	19. 2011

Enzo allows his mind free to wander as he sits in his cell, staring through the bars to Damon's empty cell. He remembers the way his clothes, hair, skin smelled of smoke. He remembers the black bile dried to his shirt, after hours of coughing and throwing up the smoke that threatened to take his lungs. He remembers a needle sliding into his arm as he fights to stay conscious; the needle makes the world he was fighting against disappear into nothingness as the vervain burned through his viens. Enzo looks around his cell, remembering the amount of disappointment he felt to wake up again in the place the brings him never ending pain.

He learned that everyone in the fire died, he was the unlucky survivor. He also met Dr. Fells, the man who took over Whitmore's project. Fells was strict compared to Whitmore. Robert is fired within days, after Fells shows early one morning to find him asleep. The new handlers, Jack and Henry, are better at hiding their emotions but less experienced. Enzo enjoys taking advantage of their costly mistakes for the first few weeks; not caring about the consequences that come when he bites someone.

Time no longer exists, he's never been to another New Year's Eve party. Fells shows how time passes as he rots down here, as well as the infrequent changes in handlers. Enzo forever stays the same, his skin does not show his scars, his hair does not change color, he does not lose weight despite the starvation he feels. Enzo is stuck in time, and he hates it.

Sometimes he thinks of Caroline, only allowing is brain to torture him with her memory when he's too weak from the experiments to stop it. He wonders if she married James or if she fell hopelessly in love with a man who deserves it. He wonders if she got to live her dream, and work as well as be a mother. He wonders if her children take after her and have hearts too big for this world. But mostly he wonders if he will get to see her again, get to see how time changed her golden waves and skin, to see if she grew more comfortable with her imperfections, to say thank you for giving him hope in humanity.

Enzo sighs as he hears the man who took over for Dr. Fells, Grayson Gilbert, a man who is so full of emotion that Enzo wants to rip his throat out and give it to Gilbert's family. It's not even the emotions that irritate him, it's the way Gilbert is so effortlessly able to become a monster the moment Enzo is laying on the table waiting for them to cut him open. Unlike the other doctors, who treated Enzo with indifference and kept their personal lives personal, Gilbert is an open book and Enzo knows his wife's name, his childrens' names, the way he takes his coffee, how everyone seems to love him. But no one knows the side that Enzo does, the cold side that treats Enzo as if he was worse than a dog. Gilbert's frustration and anger when he hits a wall is palpable, Enzo can feel it in the experiments sometimes, in each cut.

At least Dr. Gilbert's assistant, Dr. Wes Maxfield is tolerable. Maxfield leaves his personal life personal, and treats Enzo as if he's just a means to an end, nothing more. Gilbert was the one's that started experimenting with Enzo, seeing if he could control him, if he could create him into a vampire hunter. Maxfield is the one that is currently refining Gilbert's dream, as Gilbert harvest's blood from Enzo to help his human patients.

Gilbert walks in, with Maxfield behind him. "I am going to observe you for the next few months, and when you are ready the project is all yours." Gilbert says, while Maxfield hangs off his every word.

Enzo doesn't bother to ponder what they are talking about, to busy bracing himself for the vervain to enter him. Maxfield got rid of the handlers, and installed cameras, which Enzo learned watch him every moment of every day, and Maxfield prepares Enzo himself by using a gurney to transfer him from his cell to the table.

After months of Gilbert watching as Maxfield, Enzo learns that Gilbert is leaving to spent more time with his practice and family. When Gilbert stops showing up with Maxfield, Enzo beings to realize how much time has passed. He watched a middle aged Fells grow old and retire, than his young assistance fill out into manhood and become an adult. All of these lives are passing him by, and he doesn't know how much time he has left before everything he ever knew is gone.

He suspects it could be years, but for all he knows it's only been days, and when that passes Maxfield injects him with something and lets him free for a day. Enzo knows it's so Maxfield can experiment on the new girl, Elena, but he doesn't care. Enzo knows the poison is slowly desiccating him, he can feel it, but that's easy to ignore as he gets to see the world beyond his cell for the first time in decades. He learns the date from some well to do student, and he is shocked by how much time has passed. 2011.

Enzo makes it to the classroom Maxfield told him to go, and waits, patience is something he's practiced.

 **A/N The next chapter will contain some dialogue from the episode. Now that we are _finally_ in the present, I would love to know if there's anything you guys would like to see. Thank you to everyone who still reads this, despite my horrible time delays between chapters. **

**Thank you for reading!**

 **Until next time (:**

Loveklaroline: Bonjour je m'appelle is about the extent of my French (: Enzo's back! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I'm excited for the next chapter, now that everyone's together. I'm having a difficult time writing the Enzo/Caroline reunion because Caroline is not the same girl from the show, so they won't meet in the same way. I wish you had an account so I could tell you my idea, oh well, I guess you'll have to wait ;) Until next time! I'm glad your class went well, and I hope you have a fabulous holiday!


	20. Chapter 20

Enzo sits back in the classroom Maxfield told him to go to, knowing if he comes back empty handed he will die. What Wes doesn't know is that he's okay with that, and the only reason he is here is because of Damon. He just wants to know why he left, because Enzo knows for sure he would not leave Damon behind.

"Where's Elena?" Is the first thing that comes out of Damon's mouth.

Enzo's mouth turns up a little, the man before him has not changed one bit. He assumes one of the men standing with Damon is his brother, and he has no idea about the other.

Enzo leans forward in his seat, the sun shines on his features and Damon momentarily pauses while a man, well boy, steps forward. He has sandy hair, and forest green eyes, "Who are you?"

Enzo leans back, chair creaking with his weight, "It depends on who you ask. 12144 to some. Lorenzo to the man who named me. Monster to others. Enzo to the small amount of people who I call a friend."

"Enzo," The boy starts when Enzo interupts him.

"Who are you?" Enzo tilts his head, very well aware of their rush, but he doesn't care.

"Stefan." The boy answers.

"Ahh, the little brother." Enzo says, a smirk fully on his face.

Stefan looks at Damon, who is looking at Enzo with disbelief on his face. "I thought you were dead." Damon says, thinking back to a certain moment where he could have saved him instead of letting him get tortured; he left that chance behind, just like he did with the ghost before him.

Stefan looks between the two, while the other man looks scared, "What is going on?"

Enzo hums, "I guess Damon didn't tell you of Augustine, and the man he left behind who then had to live through decades of endless torture. He didn't know that though, he thought he left me to die."

Stefan is now quiet, curious to see where this is going.

Damon on the other hand is done with this conversation, he doesn't want to hear the ramblings of the ghost he long buried, he wants his girlfriend. "Where's Elena? Wes said they would be here."

The other man looks curious to that question, and Enzo sighs, "Now Damon, that's no way to treat someone you left behind, someone who sacrificed so much so you could live."

"Do you want to hear an apology?" Damon demands, before saying, "Fine. I'm sorry, alright. Just tell me where Elena is."

"I can't. Because if I don't return with you dead, I will die." Enzo says, not that he has any intention of returning.

Damon turns to the other man, "If he's not here in five minutes I will rip your head off."

The man nods and makes a call on his phone.

"Don't waste your time, Maxfield won't answer. He's too busy with the girl, Elena was it? By any chance, is she related to Dr. Grayson Gilbert?" Enzo asks.

"I don't see why that matters." Damon says, knowing that Enzo will let her die if he knows that Elena is the daughter of one of the men who cut him open on a daily basis. "What matters is where she is." Damon says.

"It matters to me." Enzo says, knowing the answer but wanting to see if Damon will tell him.

"No, she's not. But if you help us find her, we'll help you escape, help you live a free life." Damon offers.

Enzo suspected as much. "You already promised to help me escape, and then left me." Enzo says as he leans back in the seat.

"He's not answering." The man says, panic thick in his voice.

Damon uses his vampire speed to have the man against the wall, "I'll mail him pieces of your body." Damon says.

"Wait!" The man says, "Wes gave me secret files, that belonged to my grandfather. They might lead to the lab."

Damon drops him, "That's convenient. Where are they?"

"My dorm." The man says as he scrambles to stand.

"Let's go." Stefan says.

Before the three leave Enzo says, "I think Damon will be staying. We have a few things to discuss."

Stefan answers before Damon could disagree, "We'll call if we find something."

Damon looks irritated, but stays anyway. Damon turns to Enzo and waits until Stefan can no longer hear him before says, "Elena. Can you help me find her?" Damon's desperate, but he knows Enzo can be stubborn.

"What's the first thing you did after you left?" Enzo asks.

Damon sighs, knowing Enzo won't like his answer, "I went to a bar and ordered a bourbon. Then I killed Whitmore's entire family, aside from his youngest son. After that, I went in search for Katherine."

Enzo nods, like he expected him to forget about their ordeal and leave everything behind. "You know what, I was happy you escaped. Happy that you didn't have to suffer for decades, happy that you got to live. But I'm not going to lie, the thought of killing you brings immense pleasure."

Damon knows that Enzo wanted to be remembered, even in death, it gave him a sense of no being alone. Unfortunately, Damon didn't do that. "What do you want?"

Enzo leans forward and coughs up blood, Damon's by his side, holding his shoulder so he doesn't fall. Enzo wipes his mouth and shrugs Damon off, "Why did you leave?"

"What's going on?" Damon asks, he's never heard of a vampire getting sick.

"Maxfield injected me with some poison, if I don't bring you back dead I will desiccate." Enzo explains.

Damon grips his shoulders, "Let's go. We can kill Wes, and finally be free of this."

Enzo shakes his head, "No, I'm going to go say goodbye to someone and then die."

Damon grabs his arm, "Enzo-"

Enzo's fist cuts' Damon off. "You left me, Damon. I gave you blood so you could live, so you could escape. Let me leave."

Damon sets his nose before saying, "Not until I get Elena, I'm sorr-"

Another fist, this one sending Damon through the window into a car. "That's rich." Enzo says.

Damon watches Enzo walk off, and once he's healed he flashes in front of Enzo, "I'm not going to fight you." Damon says.

"Then don't." Enzo says, pushing past Damon.

"But I can't let you go." Damon says as he grabs Enzo.

Enzo can feel the poison, and he knows fighting with Damon isn't helping him.

Damon puts two and two together, knowing who Enzo wants to see, "How about saying hello instead of goodbye. If we kill Wes and get the antidote-"

"And then what?" Enzo says as he pushes Damon, who falls to the ground. "And then live an eternity alone? Live an eternity stuck in time?"

Damon doesn't know what to say, Enzo has always wanted family, and he has none.

"Goodbye Damon. Live well." Enzo says.

"Enzo, wait." Damon says as he stands.

Before Damon could rush to stop Enzo, Enzo clutches his chest as he sinks to his knees; the fight took a lot out of him. As Enzo's skin greys he closes his eyes, hating he didn't get to say thank you. Damon catches Enzo as he falls, but it's too late, Enzo has desiccated, "Where is she?" Damon demands, shaking Enzo slightly, but he's gone.

 ** _Line Break_**

"If this is some attempt to make amends, it's a bit pathetic, mate." Enzo says as he stretches his stiff limbs.

"I don't care about amends, mate. My girlfriend's safe, so technically, I'm not suffering, and it'd really suck if you desiccated in vain-"

Enzo hops off the table before speeding to Damon who sinks his hand in his chest, wrapping his fingers around Enzo's heart.

Damon continues "and I'm gonna tell you my side of the story. You asked me if I thought about you after I escaped, and answer is no, and I sure as hell don't feel guilty about leaving you because in order for me to save myself and leave you, I had to shut off my humanity, damn it, so I flipped the switch, and then I felt nothing, no remorse, no regret, no pain.

"And now what do you feel, remorse, regret, pain? Even if I forgave you, Damon, would that make you less of a horrible person?" Enzo asks, not caring if Damon will rip his heart out, just wanting to know the answer.

"We're even. _"_ Damon says before pushing Enzo away.

Enzo looks at him, stares into his clear blue eyes, before sighing, "You were the most important person in my life, and you ruined me, but that's just who you are, that's who you'll always be...A monster." Enzo says before leaving. He has a certain person to thank before he can meet his end.

Damon watches Enzo leave as he absorbs his old friends last words.

Once the night air hits Enzo's face, he relaxes. He's wanted this for so long, it feels as if it's a dream.

 **A/N The last dialogue exchange was taken from the show, I really love the how Enzo ends things. The writers did a great job with this scene, and it 100% belongs to them. I believe** Caroline Dries **wrote this, so all credit belongs to her.**

 **By the way the other guy was Aaron Whitmore, I just couldn't write that in naturally.**

 **Until next time!**

Loveklaroline: Enzo is free, it only took 20 chapters (: Enzo's revenge has yet to start, it will take him down a dark path next chapter. I'm not sure how far he will go though, Enzo seems to be a pretty forgiving person. Thank you for the wonderful review :D You just sign up using your email. I'm not telling you to get one, but it would be nice if you had one. How do you say until next time? I hope you enjoyed the chapter!


	21. Chapter 21

The flirty girl behind at the desk was easy to get information out of, it only took some compulsion for him to view Caroline Elizabeth Forbes' files. Enzo smiles, she graduated top of her class, with her degree in English and minor in Philosophy.

"Thank you." Enzo says, and the girl blushes, "Anytime."

Enzo smirks as he makes his way to his car, driving to Mystic Falls to find her. What he finds makes his veins turn cold and heart skip a beat, according to the Mystic Falls Sheriff's Department, Caroline was killed during the summer of 1958, her head of severed from her body. The man gives Enzo a sad smile, "I'm sorry for your grandfather's loss."

"Thank you." Enzo says. He feels slightly guilty for lying to the man; telling him that his grandfather, who is on his deathbed, is looking for his lost love.

All signs point to Stefan, as he remembers the tales of his ripper period. Enzo creates the perfect plan to enact his revenge, and with the help of Liv after threatening her brother's life, everything works out. Well everything, until Stefan refuses to admit to killing her.

"I'm sorry for your loss, but I didn't kill her. I wasn't a ripper then." Stefan says, green eyes flickering between Bonnie, Elena, and Enzo.

"Liv, would you be a dear and take Bonnie upstairs?" Enzo asks, voice dripping with murder. He doesn't need the witch to try and interfere.

Liv sighs, but does as he asks, not wanting anything to happen to her brother.

Enzo grabs a chair, flips it and sits with his forearms resting on the back of it as stares at the two vampires in front of him. "Stefan, this would be very easy if you just told the truth."

"I am, I don't know who she is." Stefan says, voice on the verge of panic. Enzo is unpredictable, and deadly.

Enzo sighs, before standing up and breaking the chair, he has a piece of wood in Elena's stomach and she lets out a gasp with a few tears. "No!" Stefan says.

"This would be less painful if you owned up to your sins, Saint Stefan." Enzo mocks as he pulls the wood out of Elena and right into Stefan's gut.

Stefan grunts, "Fine, I killed her, are you happy now?"

"No." Enzo says, about ready to pull Stefan's heart our when Damon walks in.

"Enzo!" Damon says, seeing the state his brother's in.

Enzo turns to face Damon, "Good, you're here to see the show."

"Stefan didn't kill her, I did." Damon lies. He read the police report Liz gave him after Bonnie sent him a frantic text, apparently Caroline was found with her head severed, and they didn't take any pictures to cover up the fact that she was a vampire.

Stefan looks at his brother, while Elena cries silently. Enzo twists the stake in Stefan, and Damon steps forward, "Stop."

Damon looks wild, with his brother's life in jeopardy, "I killed her, I didn't know it was her. If you need to kill someone, kill me. Hate me, but leave Stefan out of it." Damon's eyes flicker to Elena, but he doesn't say anything.

Enzo's face falls, and Stefan feels empathy for the betrayal Enzo feels.

Enzo turns to face Damon. His brown eyes are dark, dark with pain, and shiny with grief, he not only lost Caroline today, he lost Damon. **"** Well, that's the problem, Damon. I don't want to hate you. Because if I hate you, then I have nothing left. There is another option. **"** Enzo can feel the loneliness take over, and he can't live another second like that. Enzo closes his eyes, feeling the grief, the loss, the hatred, and the love of everything that was never his.

"Enzo!" He hears Damon call him, feels him as he grips his shoulders, but the only thing Enzo holds on to as he toys with the switch is Caroline's face, her sun kissed hair and sky blue eyes. The imagine soon changes to the description, of her head severed from her body and hate grows in his stomach.

Enzo lets out a breath, he opens his eyes, seeing a panicked Damon standing in front of him, "You're right, I don't care about anything." Enzo lifts the compulsion and the crowd goes nuts.

Stefan and Elena sit there tied up, while Damon releases Enzo to compel the kids before they leave to forget what happened. Enzo walks over to Stefan, puts a hand on his shoulder, "This wasn't personal."

Stefan nods, understanding where he was coming from. In one fluid motion Enzo pulls the stake out of Stefan and into Elena's heart. Enzo leaves while Stefan screams, but Damon's too slow to do anything.

Enzo walks out into the sun, letting go of his faux calmness, he didn't turn off his emotions, he just didn't want Damon to stop him; after all it was Damon's idea to kill everyone but one surviving member, the Gilberts will now be survived by Jeremy. Enzo slides into his car and takes the forty minute journey to Mystic Falls.

Enzo pulls up in front of the Mystic Falls Grille, slides onto a bar stool and orders a bourbon neat.

"Do you know where the cemetery is?" Enzo asks once the bartender places a drink in front of him.

The bar tenders hazel eyes show sadness as she relays the instructions.

"Thank you." Enzo leaves a nice tip and goes back to his car, making his way to the cemetery. As he drives through the sleepy little town with a dark secret, he doesn't see how it could do anything but stifle the girl so full of light. He hopes she found happiness in her short life.

It takes him a few minutes to find her, buried under an old oak tree with the setting sun giving her tombstone a soft glow.

Enzo sits on her tombstone, and all the words he's ever wanted to say to her are gone. He's lost in thought as he toys with his ring, but then is snapped out of it by the sound of leaves crunching.

An elderly man is standing there, observing the twenty something year old sitting their with grief painted on his face _._ Enzo doesn't look from the setting sun, even though he can feel eyes on him.

"Any relation?" a man asks.

"An old friend." Enzo says, not caring that her death date makes him older than his appearance.

"Hmm, my cousin would have been 85. You can't be more than 25." The man says.

Enzo looks to the man, he can see that they share the same eyes. He can also see Caroline in the way the man smiles, and that makes Enzo's heart ache a little. "About 136." Enzo stands, waiting for the stake that will end him, after all this man is a decent from the founders, he will know about vampires.

The man nods, "I'm Charles Forbes." The man sticks his hand out.

Now Enzo is on unsure footing, the man comes from a town of vampire hunters, shouldn't he be killing him or at the very least running for his life. Enzo puts one hand in his pocket and sticks the other out, gripping Charles' in a firm shake, "Lorenzo."

Charles shakes back, "Nice to meet you Lorenzo," Charles takes his hand back, "You don't sound like your from here, what brings you through?"

Enzo looks back to the tombstone, "I came to say thank you to an old friend."

"She's didn't die that day." Charles says, and Enzo's head snaps in his direction.

Charles smiles, "Not in the sense that the you're thinking."

Enzo's heart stops, knowing exactly what he's talking about.

 **A/N I personally hate cliff hangers, but I couldn't help but put one here (: Don't hate me too much.**

 **"** Well, that's the problem, Damon. I don't want to hate you. Because if I hate you, then I have nothing left. There is another option. **" - This line belongs to the CW, I just thought it was beautifully heartbreaking. I also loved the acting in that scene. No copyright infringement intended.**

 **Until next time!**

Loveklaroline: Thank you for your wonderful comments! I hope you enjoy this chapter! I'm have a vague idea on how Caroline and Enzo will reunite, but nothing's set in stone, so if you have any suggestions please let me know! What did you think of Elena? à la prochaine!


	22. Chapter 22

"Where is she?" Enzo asks after a moment of hesitation.

Charles smiles, "I don't know, but she's coming back to town on Friday. My granddaughter, her fiancé, and their children are moving into my house while they attend college, so she's getting the place ready because I'm getting to old."

Two days. Two days until Enzo gets to see her again. Some how that seems longer than all the decades he's waited in his cell to thank her.

Charles smiles at Enzo, "I'm giving her my house for a few hours while I take my granddaughter and her children to lunch, why don't you stop by around noon."

"Thank you, Charles." Enzo says, feeling immense gratitude for the man before him. He is once again reminded that humanity is worth saving, something the Forbes seem excellent at.

Charles chuckles, "Please, call me Charley."

 _ **~Line Break~**_

Enzo parks in front of Charley's plantation style home that's on 10 acres; Enzo can see Charley and Caroline growing up here, knowing this place is older than himself. He's thankful for Charley letting him in, he only had to promise he wouldn't eat anyone. Enzo sighs as he shifts the car into park, remembering what it was like to think she was dead. Enzo steps out of his car and gently shuts the door, not wanting to alert Caroline to his presence. The way the gravel cracks under his boots sounds deafening as he walks up to the door.

Enzo knocks lightly on the door, knowing her vampire hearing will pick up on it. He puts his hands in his pocket as he waits, listening to Caroline walk through the house. He smiles, noticing her gait hasn't changed, as she rushes to the door.

"I'm so-" Caroline starts as she opens the door, but then stops as her sky blue eyes take in Enzo's warm brown ones.

Enzo take her in, notices her golden waves are up in a messy bun, her youthful face is free of makeup, her sky eyes still hold the same light but now with more wisdom, and her endless legs are hidden behind a pair of yoga pants. She's barefoot, making her slightly shorter than what he's use to, but she is still gorgeous.

"Hello Caroline." Enzo utters, at awe with her appearance even though he knew she only aged a handful of years since he last saw her, and then time was stolen from her.

Caroline looks at him like he's a ghost, and tears cause her sky eyes to shine, but none fall, "Enzo," Her voice is barely above a whisper as her eyes scan him to see if he's real, "I thought you were dead." Hearing his name come form her mouth makes him want lay his sins down at her feet; she says it as if he's worthy of life.

Enzo gives her a genuine smile, one that hasn't graced his face in a long time, and when her blue eyes connect with his brown eyes she gifts him with one of her amazing smiles. Caroline steps out of the house and wraps her arms around him and breaths him in.

Enzo is shocked, and it takes him a moment to wrap her in his arms. He hasn't had contact in so many decades, save for the experiments, and it feels like electricity is buzzing through him. Enzo breaths Caroline in, she doesn't smell the same, he can still smell the sent he always associated with sunshine, but now he also detects a hint of something darker.

Hugging Caroline feels like returning home, but it also feels like a breath of fresh air. Caroline pulls away, and Enzo immediately misses her contact; craving it.

Caroline begins to pace on the porch, hands playing with her sunlight ring, before she settles on a bench. Enzo wants to sit next to her and comfort her, but he still feels as if there is this barrier preventing him from doing so. Caroline has her face in her hands, and he sees her shoulders rise and fall with a few deep breaths before she looks at him with blood shot eyes. "I am so sorry for leaving you there." She starts.

Enzo interrupts as he sits next to her, leaving space between them, "No gorgeous-"

"I know where the lab is, I know how to get in and out, I knew that Robert would be asleep, I could have saved you from decades of torture." Caroline says.

Enzo shakes his head, "Or you could have been captured, and tortured right there beside me."

Her sky eyes bore into his, and he is instantly reminded of summer even though it is fall. Caroline stands and grabs his hand, "Come with me."

Enzo would follow her anywhere, but he stops her by gently tugging on her hand, "Gorgeous, would you like shoes?"

Caroline blushes to her roots, and Enzo smirks, somethings never change. "I'll be right back."

Enzo watches as she uses her vampire speed to leave him and be back with shoes in less than a heartbeat, the door clicking shut behind her. Enzo takes a deep breath, as her wind ruffles his hair. Caroline grabs his hand again, and gives him a gentle squeeze as she leads him down the porch. Enzo falls instep next to her, deciding he's never going to let her go.

Caroline doesn't seem to notice that she still holds his hand as she starts talking about the past, "You made me break my promise," she says as she gives him a dirty look out of the corner of her eye, "but when I got my memories back, I was-" she pauses for a moment before continuing, "I was hurt that you didn't want me to remember you. Then I was mad at you, for taking away my choice. It took me months to look at things through a different perspective, you were trying to help me. I grieved for you, but I wasn't about to forget you."

Caroline leads him to a river on the edge of the property, thick with trees, and under one is a tombstone. It simply says Lorenzo, but it brings a smile to his face, grateful that she remembered her simple promise to him. Caroline lets go of him and lays down, with the crown of her head resting against the tombstone, "I come here every so often, it brings me peace."

Enzo freezes, he never once thought that he could bring anyone peace. Caroline notices and tugs on his hand, he lays next to her, and takes in the branches that stretch across the sky.

They lay there for hours as Caroline catches him up with the happenings of the world. Suddenly she sits up, "Charley should be back by now."

Enzo lifts his head, "So?"

Caroline turns to look at him like he's crazy, " _So_ , I'm suppose to be cleaning his house, not watching clouds."

Enzo gently touches her back, still unused to physical contact, "Sunshine, I thought you were dead."

He feels Caroline tense, "I came looking for you once I was free, expecting to find a beautiful woman in her 80s surrounded by people she loved."

Caroline gives him a sad smile at the thought.

Enzo traces invisible patterns on her back with the tip of his fingers, and toys with the few strands of golden locks that have escaped the bun. "I went to the Mystic Falls Sheriff's department when I discovered you fell of the face of the Earth. They informed me that Caroline Elizabeth Forbes was found dead with her head severed."

Enzo breaks the contact and looks to the sky, not wanting to see her face as he says, "I heard of a vampire who severed his victims heads, I thought it was him. So I tracked him down only to find it was his brother, a man I once thought of as family. I killed his girlfriend and left."

Caroline opens her mouth to offer comfort, and he is pleased to see no judgement. Enzo doesn't let her speak, "I went you your grave, ready to say my peace and end my eternity," a flash of pain moves thought her eyes, "but then I met your cousin, and he informed me of your status as a vampire, and here we are."

Caroline smiles.

"So I don't think he will mind if you are late. So tell me about the first time you felt happiness." Enzo asks, remembering a time where she asked about the heightened emotions.

Caroline quickly gets lost in the memory as she explains it to him. He watches her excitement and listens intently as the sun paints intricate patterns on her face as it filters through the leaves.

 **A/N I hope this doesn't seem all over the place, but I was unsure on how to write their reunion. I hope everyone enjoyed it!**

 **A la prochaine!**

Loveklaroline: I'm so sorry for the extremely late update, unfortunately life has been hectic as of late. Thank you for your kind reviews and concern, everything is fine just busy. I hope all is well in your life, and if you have an idea for a one shot please let me know!


	23. Chapter 23

Caroline's face lights up and Enzo takes in the soft afternoon light casting an intricate pattern of branches on her face as she explains to him how it feels to be a vampire.

She pauses at the end of her memory, her face darkens for a moment.

Enzo sits up, "What's wrong?"

She sighs, avoiding eye contact. "All this reminiscing about the first time I felt happiness as a vampire brought me back to the first time I felt anything as a vampire." She pauses, squeezing her eyes shut before opening them, "It was so overwhelming, it was hard to breath. Ev-everything came back. It was like this tide came and all of what I was feeling in that moment, the disgust, the fear, the confusion, was all swept away as the holes of the past came back." She makes eye contact with him, "You came back."

"I'm sorry that happened. You weren't suppose to get those memories back." Enzo says.

She gives him a bright smile, "I'm not. Because if I didn't remember you, if I didn't remember your humanity that you wore with pride, I would have gave up." She lets out a light that holds sadness, "If I didn't see the hope that you fought so hard against, the hope that brought resilience to still never give up your humanity, than I would lost all hope."

Enzo stays silent, he never realized how much she saw. "Who turned you?" He asks quietly, not yet ready to explore what Caroline sees in him.

She shrugs, looking down at the grass that she's began to twirl. "I don't know." She admits.

"Why were you turned?" He asks, trying to hold his anger back.

Caroline takes a deep breath, "The man who turned me did it because I was compelled, and he wanted to find out why. It all came back at once, all fourteen months, and he knew you." She pauses, while Enzo's eyes widen as the pieces fit together.

She speaks before he can say anything, "He informed me that you were dead, and then left. I found Charley, he helped me get away, and the rest is history."

Enzo sits up and looks down at her, "Have you seen Damon since?"

Her eyebrows raise in confusion, "Who?"

"The vampire that turned you." Enzo answers, feeling antsy.

Caroline shakes her head as she sits up, "No. I just learned his name now."

Enzo looks away from her, feeling his blood boil; Damon knew Caroline was alive but didn't say a thing.

Caroline rests a hand on his shoulder, "What's wrong?"

Enzo looks at her, "Where is the Salvatore Boarding house?" remembering it from a conversation he had decades ago with Damon.

 **A/N I'm so sorry for the long break between this chapter and the last. The next update should be up within the month.  
**

 **I hope you are all still reading and enjoying this story.**

Loveklaroline- Thank you for all your support! I know I haven't been updating recently, but I'm not going to give up. This story is drawing to a close, and I hope you will enjoy the ending. Thank you so much for reading everything I write and providing feedback, when I lose inspiration I always go back to your comments. (: A la prochaine!


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